Last week, the University sent an email to the Stanford community about a pending strike of graduate workers represented by United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of America Local 1043, Stanford Graduate Workers Union (UE-SGWU). In the email, Stanford administrators made the case that the union’s demands were unreasonable and would constitute unfair treatment relative to other University employees. 

As graduate alumni of Stanford, we are disappointed by our alma mater’s attempts to obfuscate key facts. Several points that the administration made in last week’s email distort the reality of both the graduate worker crisis and the bargaining process. In these attempts to misrepresent graduate workers’ legitimate demands, the administration follows a playbook that employers invented over 50 years ago to break the power of unions and hollow out the institutions of workplace democracy.

Let’s first discuss the claim that “meeting the union’s demand for an above-market pay raise would be unfair to other groups of employees.” While it is true that union workers earn more than nonunion workers, all workers ultimately benefit from unionization. When a group of workers negotiates a strong contract with their employer, it gives leverage to other groups of workers to bargain for better contracts as well. Non-unionized groups of workers will see the power of a union and begin to organize themselves. Solidarities between Stanford resident physicians, represented by the national Committee of Interns and Residents (CIR), and Stanford nurses, represented by the Committee for Recognition of Nursing Achievement (CRONA), offer examples of workers refusing the zero-sum logic of union-busting.

When the University says that meeting the union’s demands will result in unfairness, what they are really saying is that if they are forced to give one group of workers raises, all groups of Stanford workers (lecturers, adjunct faculty, staff, librarians, postdocs and more) will have more negotiating power than the administration want them to have. Their fear is that a rising tide will lift all boats.

The University also claims that the graduate workers’ demand of a 14-16% wage increase in the first year of the contract, with additional increases in subsequent years, is unreasonable. The University’s proposal of a 12% wage increase over three years, the administration claims, is far more reasonable. Comparing the compensation of Stanford’s graduate workers favorably with those of students at other peer institutions, the University suggests that its graduate workers are greedy, seeking more than it is “reasonable” to demand. 

According to MIT’s living-wage calculator, a liveable salary for one adult in Santa Clara County is over $68,000 if the adult is not supporting any children and over $121,000 if the adult is supporting one child — more, if the adult is supporting two or more children. By suggesting that UE-SGWU’s demands are unreasonable, the administration implies that it is not reasonable to pay graduate workers living wages. Presuming that graduate workers can survive without a living wage, or that sufficient jobs will be available to justify incurring debt for a Ph.D., is deeply out of touch with the realities of graduate workers’ lives. 

By recognizing these obfuscation tactics for what they are, faculty, staff and undergraduates can stand in real solidarity with the graduate workers who will strike next week. A strike is not fun, and it takes a toll on everyone. The University will try to use your frustration to break the power of workers. It will frame graduate workers as unreasonable, overly demanding and insensitive to the needs of other communities on the campus. These are tools in every employer’s toolbox to delegitimize striking workers and their demands of better lives for themselves and their families.

If you are a faculty member, especially one with tenure, do not undermine graduate workers’ bargaining power by doing struck work. Sign the faculty neutrality pledge. In meetings with colleagues, be vocal about your support of striking graduate workers. Junior colleagues and other groups of workers without job security will rely on you to create a campus conversation that supports striking workers. 

Postdocs, staff, research scientists, librarians and all other employees should also avoid doing struck work. The power of graduate workers rests in their ability to make the University feel the pain of their labor withholding. When other workers “pitch in” or “lend a hand,” as employers will ask you to do, you undermine striking workers and draw out the length of the strike. If you hope to bring the strike to an end soon, email administrators and urge them to meet graduate workers’ demands. 

Undergraduates, the best thing you can do is to let your TA know you support them. Do everything you can to avoid emailing them or your professor with requests for the release of your grades. If you are frustrated by the situation, email administrators and encourage them to negotiate fairly at the bargaining table so the strike can be brought to an end. 

If the entire Stanford community comes together around graduate workers, they will win a fair contract and the strike will likely end soon. If graduate workers win their wage demands, will their compensation look unfair in comparison to yours, in the political economy of the University? Probably. Will that give you more leverage to negotiate higher wages for yourself and your co-workers? Absolutely. 

As we enter a second Trump presidency, we will need to renew and redouble our efforts to fight austerity. Getting behind a group of striking workers and refusing to cross a picket line is a powerful step in preserving the economic power of working people everywhere. 

Sincerely,

Branden Adams, History Ph.D. ‘20

Neida Ahmad, Education Ph.D. ‘24

Madihah Akhter, History Ph.D. ‘20, Senior Researcher

Kristen Alff, History Ph.D. ‘19, Assistant Professor of History and International Studies at North Carolina State University

Afroz Algiers, Sustainable Design & Construction M.S. ‘14, sourdough baker, Mumbai

Sanna Ali, Science, Technology and Society B.S., Communication Ph.D. ‘23, Graduate Student Council Co-Chair 2021-2022

Anuba Anushree, History Ph.D. ‘23

Jonathan Arnold, International Relations B.A. ‘23

Caro Asercion, Theater and Performance Studies B.A. ‘18

Cameron Awkward-Rich, Modern Thought and Literature Ph.D. ‘17, Associate Professor of Women, Gender, Sexuality Studies, University of Massachusetts, Amherst

Swethaa Ballakrishnen, Sociology Ph.D. ‘15, Professor of Law and (by courtesy) Sociology, Asian American Studies, and Criminology, Law and Society, University of California, Irvine

Kari Barclay, Theater and Performance Studies Ph.D. ‘21, Assistant Professor of Theater, Oberlin College

Sarah Barnes, Immunology Ph.D. ‘21, Lecturer, Boston University

Rodolfo Cortes Barragan, Psychology Ph.D. ‘16, Research Scientist, University of Washington

Brian Baum, Materials Science and Engineering Ph.D. ‘17

Victoria Borish, Applied Physics Ph.D. ‘21

Jamillah Bowman Williams, Law J.D. ‘11, Sociology Ph.D. ‘13, Professor of Law, Georgetown University, and Faculty Director, Georgetown Workers’ Rights Institute

Annika Butler-Wall, Modern Thought and Literature Ph.D. ‘23, Lecturer of Feminist, Gender and Sexuality Studies, Stanford University

Brian Cabral, Education Ph.D. in Race, Inequality, and Language in Education ‘24, Assistant Professor of Youth and Community Studies, the University of Texas at Austin

Oona Cahill, J.D. ‘23

Emily Carian, Sociology Ph.D. ‘19, Assistant Professor of Teaching in Sociology, University of California, Irvine

Dean Chahim, Anthropology Ph.D. ‘21, Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies, New York University

Tagart Cain Sobotka, Sociology Ph.D. ‘22, Assistant Professor of Teaching, University of California, Santa Barbara

Callie Chappell, Biology Ph.D. ‘23, National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow

Gustavo Chavez, B.A., M.S., MD ‘21, Resident Physician

Tina Cheuk, Education Ph.D. ‘19, Associate Professor, Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo

Calvin Cheung-Miaw, Interdisciplinary Humanities B.A. ’03, Modern Thought and Literature Ph.D. ‘21, Assistant Professor of History, Duke University

Jason Cieply, Slavic Languages and Literatures Ph.D. ‘16, Assistant Professor of Russian Studies, Hamilton College

Christianne Corbett, Sociology Ph.D. ‘23, Assistant Professor of Sociology, University of Arkansas

Phoebus Cotsapas, French Ph.D. ‘24

Katie Remington Cunningham, Education Ph.D. ‘20, Research Director, Minnesota Justice Research Center

Morgan Day Frank, English Ph.D. ‘17, Lecturer and Assistant Director of History and Literature, Harvard University

Pablo Seward Delaporte, Anthropology Ph.D. ‘23, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, Saint Louis University

Steven Diamond, Computer Science Ph.D. ‘20

Nina Toft Djanegara, Anthropology Ph.D. ‘24, Postdoctoral Lecturer, Princeton University

Jacob Doherty, Anthropology Ph.D. ‘16, Lecturer in Anthropology of Development, University of Edinburgh

Tasha Eccles, English Ph.D. ‘18, Assistant Professor of English, Yale University

Nisrin Elamin, Anthropology Ph.D. ‘20, Assistant Professor of African Studies and Anthropology, University of Toronto

Alex Feliciano Mejía, Education Ph.D. ‘22, Assistant Professor of Critical Literacy, San Francisco State University

Alex Ferris, Bioengineering Ph.D. ‘22

Blake Francis, Philosophy Ph.D. ‘17, Assistant Professor of Philosophy, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

Will Fryer, Iberian and Latin American Cultures M.A. ‘13

Timnit Gebru, Electrical Engineering Ph.D. ‘17, Founder and Executive Director, The Distributed Artificial Intelligence Research Institute (DAIR)

Rebecca Gleit, Sociology Ph.D. ‘23, Assistant Professor of Sociology, Skidmore College

Katerina Gonzales, Earth System Science Ph.D. ‘21

Eduardo Gonzalez-Maldonado, Developmental Biology Ph.D. ‘19

Mike Guernsey, Developmental Biology Ph.D. ‘20, Assistant Professor of Genetics, California State University, Stanislaus

Latifah Hamzah, Environmental Engineering Ph.D. ‘24, Water Resources Professional, Geosyntec

Mallory Harris, Biology Ph.D. ‘24

Stacy Hartman, German Studies Ph.D. ‘15

Annelise Heinz, History Ph.D. ‘15, Associate Professor of History, University of Oregon

Jasmine Hill, Sociology Ph.D. ‘21, Assistant Professor of Public Policy and Sociology, University of California, Los Angeles

Rachael Hill, History Ph.D. ‘19, Assistant Professor

Caitlin Hogan, Ph.D. ‘10

Sam Holley-Kline, Anthropology Ph.D. ‘19

Jen Marrero Hope, Chemistry Ph.D. ‘21, Research Communities Manager, Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education

Em Horst, Chemistry Ph.D. ‘24, Postdoctoral Researcher

Sabrina Huang, Communication Ph.D. ‘22

Grace Huckins, Neurosciences Ph.D. ‘24, COLLEGE Lecturer, Stanford University

Theresa Iker, History Ph.D. ‘23

Mei Li Inouye, East Asian Languages and Cultures Ph.D. ‘20, Assistant Professor of Chinese, Centre College

Geoff Ivison, Immunology Ph.D. ‘21

Tristan Ivory, Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity B.A. ‘04, Sociology Ph.D. ‘14, Assistant Professor, School of Industrial and Labor Relations (ILR), Cornell University

Elizabeth Jacob, History Ph.D. ‘22, Assistant Professor of History, University of Massachusetts, Amherst

Amy Johnson, Sociology Ph.D. ‘23, Assistant Professor of Sociology and Health, Medicine and Society, Lehigh University

Taylor Jones IV, Chemistry Ph.D. ‘23

Melissa Kagen, German Studies Ph.D. ‘16, Assistant Professor of Interactive Media and Game Development, Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Mireille Kamariza, Biology Ph.D. ‘19, Assistant Professor of Bioengineering, University of California, Los Angeles

Risa Katzen, History Ph.D. ‘17

Marcus Kelly, Cancer Biology Ph.D. ‘20, Postdoctoral Researcher, University of California, San Diego

Allison Kendra, Anthropology Ph.D. ‘21

Neha Kennard, Computer Science M.S. ‘16

Juan Pedro Lamata, English Ph.D. ’20, Assistant Professor of English, California State University, Los Angeles

Lily Lamboy, Political Science Ph.D. ‘18, Executive Director, Modern Family Institute

Naomi Latorraca, Biophysics Ph.D. ‘19, Postdoctoral Scholar, University of California, Berkeley

Hannah LeBlanc, History Ph.D. ‘19

Crystal Lee, History B.A. ‘15, History M.A. ’16, Assistant Professor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Josh Leung-Gagné, Sociology Ph.D. ‘23

Becca Lewis, Communication Ph.D. ‘24, Postdoctoral Researcher, Stanford University

Lucy Li, Symbolic Systems B.S. ‘18, Computer Science M.S. ‘19, Ph.D. Candidate, University of California, Berkeley

Krystale Littlejohn, Sociology Ph.D. ‘13, Associate Professor, University of Oregon

Tawaun Lucas, Neurosciences Ph.D. ‘21, Postdoctoral Researcher, Genentech

Sharese King, Linguistics Ph.D. ‘18

Tim MacKenzie, Chemistry Ph.D. ‘19, former Genetics postdoc

Jacob Maddox, J.D. ‘23

Katherine Marino, History Ph.D. ‘13, Associate Professor of History, University of California, Los Angeles

Nicole Martin, History Ph.D. ‘18

Mejgan Massoumi, History Ph.D. ‘21, American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) 2024-25 Fellow

Samuel Maull, Anthropology Ph.D. ‘20

Dannielle McCarthy, Chemistry Ph.D. ‘21

Carlos Medina, Immunology Ph.D. ‘20

Alyson Melzer, Classics Ph.D. ‘20

Paola Mendez, J.D. ‘23

Tyler Merz, Applied Physics Ph.D. ‘18, Staff Engineer, Ironclad Software

Bennet Meyers-Im, Electrical Engineering Ph.D. ‘23, Staff Scientist

Hannah Mieczkowski, Communication Ph.D. ‘22

Justine Modica, History Ph.D. ‘22, Klarman Postdoctoral Fellow in History, Cornell University

Mohit Mookim, B.A. ‘18, J.D. ‘23

Amber Moore, Immunology Ph.D. ‘21

Daniel Muise, Communication Ph.D. ‘22

Shaila Musharoff, Genetics Ph.D. ‘16 and Postdoctoral Scholar ‘22, Assistant Professor at the Department of Computational Biology, Cornell University

Prerna Nadathur, Linguistics Ph.D. ‘19, Assistant Professor of Linguistics, Ohio State University, and Visiting Assistant Professor of Linguistics, New York University

Jeff Nagy, Communications Ph.D. ‘22, Assistant Professor of AI and Critical Data Studies, York University

Vivek V. Narayan, Theater and Performance Studies Ph.D. ‘19, Assistant Professor of English, Theater and Performance Studies, Ashoka University

Paul Nauert, History Ph.D. ‘23, Assistant Professor of History, Eastern Oregon University

Aaron Neiman, Anthropology Ph.D. ‘23, Postdoctoral Researcher, Washington University in St. Louis

Laura Ng, Anthropology Ph.D. ‘21, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, Grinnell College

Kemi Oyewole, Education Ph.D. ‘24, Provost’s Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Pennsylvania

Soyoung Park, Education Ph.D. ‘17, Faculty and Director of Special Education Programs, Bank Street College of Education

Siddharth Patel, Economics M.A. ’18, Civil and Environmental Engineering Ph.D. ‘19

Courtney Pena, Education Ph.D. ‘19

Dilshanie Perera, Anthropology Ph.D. ‘20

Forest Olaf Peterson, Civil and Environmental Engineering Ph.D. ‘20, Staff Affiliate Researcher, Center for Integrated Facility Engineering Workforce Lab, Stanford University

Petar Petrov, Chemistry Ph.D. ‘20, Postdoctoral Scholar, University of California, Berkeley

J.D. Porter, English Ph.D. ‘17, Associate Director of Digital Research in the Humanities, Price Lab for Digital Humanities, University of Pennsylvania

Teresa Pratt, Linguistics Ph.D. ‘18, Assistant Professor of English Language and Literature, San Francisco State University, California Faculty Association

Michael Reddick, Chemical Engineering Ph.D. ‘20, Staff Scientist, Twist Bioscience

Luis Rodriguez-Rincon, Comparative Literature Ph.D. ‘20, Assistant Professor of Spanish, Haverford College

Iran R. Roman, Music Ph.D. ‘21, Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science,  Queen Mary University of London

Lupita Ruiz-Jones, Biology Ph.D. ‘16

Nethra Samarawickrema, Anthropology Ph.D. ‘20

Kara Schechtman, Symbolic Systems M.S. ‘24, Ph.D. Student in Computer Science, Princeton University

Emily Schell, Education Ph.D. ‘24, Teaching Assistant Professor of Psychology

Megan Schoendorf, Electrical Engineering M.S. ‘14

Alejandro Schuler, Biomedical Informatics Ph.D. ‘18, Assistant Professor of Biostatistics, University of California, Berkeley

Nasa Sinnott-Armstrong, Genetics Ph.D. ‘22, Assistant Professor of Computational Biology, Fred Hutch and Genome Sciences, University of Washington

W. Andrew Shephard, English Ph.D. ’19, Assistant Professor of African American Literature, University of Utah

David Shuang Song, Education Ph.D. ‘21

Elizabeth Spragins, Iberian and Latin American Cultures Ph.D. ‘17, Assistant Professor of Spanish, College of the Holy Cross

Alana Springer, Anthropology Ph.D. ‘21

Ada Statler, Earth Systems B.S. ‘18, Emmett Interdisciplinary Program in Environment and Resources M.S. ‘22, J.D. ‘22

Max Stassfeld, Religious Studies Ph.D. ‘13, Associate Professor of Religious Studies, University of Southern California

Benina Stern, American Studies B.A. ‘16

Jessica Stovall, Education Ph.D. ‘23, Assistant Professor of African American Studies

Miranda Stratton, Biology Ph.D. ‘19

Christopher Strong, Electrical Engineering M.S. ‘21, Ph.D. Student in Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences, University of California, Berkeley

Alexandra Sukalo, History Ph.D. ‘21, Assistant Professor of National Security, University of Texas, Austin

Ana M. Tárano, Aeronautics and Astronautics Ph.D. ‘20, Research Assistant Professor, Arizona State University

Dr. Bronwen Tate, Comparative Literature Ph.D. ’14, Associate Professor of Teaching, University of British Columbia

T Templin, Health Policy Ph.D. ‘22, Assistant Professor, Health Policy and Management, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Charlotte Thun-Hohenstein, History Ph.D. ‘24

Anna Toledano, History Ph.D. ‘24

Weronika Tomczyk, Anthropology Ph.D. ‘24, Postdoctoral Fellow, Dartmouth College

Brenda Torres, Immunology Ph.D. ‘16

Kerem Can Uşşaklı, Anthropology Ph.D. ‘24, Junior Research Fellow, Crown Center for Middle East Studies at Brandeis University

Monica VanBladel, Iberian and Latin American Cultures Ph.D. ‘19

Anthony Muro Villa III, Education Ph.D. ‘20, Assistant Professor of STEM Teaching and Learning, University of California, Riverside

Rebecca Wall, History Ph.D. ‘20, Assistant Professor of History, Loyola Marymount University

Hannah Walser, English Ph.D. ‘16, Furman Academic Fellow, New York University School of Law

Jiarui Wang, Chemistry Ph.D. ‘21, Clinical Account Manager, Miltenyi Biotec

Mai Wang, English Ph.D. ‘21, Assistant Professor of Literature, University of Texas at Dallas

Meghan Warner, Sociology Ph.D. ‘24, Lecturer, COLLEGE

Anna West, Anthropology Ph.D. ‘16, Assistant Professor of Health Studies, Haverford College

Bridget Whearty, English Ph.D. ‘13, Associate Professor of English, Binghamton University

Marcelo Worsley, Chemical Engineering B.S. ’07, Spanish/Portuguese B.A. ’07, Computer Science M.S. ’14, Learning Sciences Ph.D. ’14, Associate Professor, Northwestern University

Vivian Yan-Gonzalez, History Ph.D. ‘22, Assistant Professor of Asian American Studies, Chapman University

Caleb Zerger, Applied Physics Ph.D. ‘23

Carolyn Zola, History Ph.D. ‘24, Postdoctoral Fellow, Program in Early American Economy and Society, Library Company of Philadelphia

Grace Zhou, Anthropology Ph.D. ‘21, Assistant Professor of Social Anthropology, University of Edinburgh

Victoria Zurita, Comparative Literature Ph.D. ‘24, Assistant Professor of Comparative Literature