The Graduate Center chapter of the Professional Staff Congress-CUNY stands in solidarity with the striking graduate workers of Temple University.
The Temple University Graduate Students’ Association (TUGSA) has been on strike since January 31, after going a year without a contract or a raise. Their reasonable demands are the least these essential workers deserve :
- A living wage (raising base pay from $19,000 to $32,800/year)
- Affordable healthcare for dependents and families
- Longer parental and bereavement leave
- Better working conditions
We condemn the scorched-earth, strikebreaking tactics of Temple’s administration, which include canceling striking workers’ health insurance without notice, punitively rescinding tuition remission benefits, and threatening the legal status of international graduate workers.
As fellow public university workers, we recognize TUGSA’s struggle as our own. For decades, our institutions have cut resources, raised tuition, and exploited graduate workers and adjuncts—among many others—to make up the difference. We stand with striking Temple graduate workers not just because they deserve fair pay and benefits, but because they stand for a vision of public higher education as a truly public good—a vision threatened by racist, anti-LGBTQ+ ideologues and austerity-minded administrators alike.
Show your solidarity for the strike by donating to TUGSA’s Strike Fund, signing a public petition, and posting your support on social media.
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