MSU graduate assistant union requests wage increase

For Alicia Bray, raising a child is hard enough. Trying to raise a child on a university stipend is harder.

Bray, a research assistant in the Department of Entomology, balances work with raising her 6-month-old daughter, Isabel.

“My only choice to take care of my child is if I do it, because day care is two-thirds of my salary,” she said. “At the university day care, there’s about a 12-month waiting list. Even if I could afford it, I would have to wait.”

For graduate students in difficult financial situations, the Graduate Employees Union, or GEU, is requesting a 5 percent wage increase for teaching assistants when their current contract expires May 15.

In addition to receiving credit hours for their work — nine for fall and spring semesters and four for summer — TAs also receive monthly stipends from the university, which can be put to use for food and rent, among other expenses.

Research assistants receive the same benefits as TAs, although they are not part of the GEU.

The amount of the stipends varies depending on what department the TA is teaching for, the TA’s experience and number of hours worked per week.

Even for a TA without children or other dependents, making ends meet on the stipend is a tough proposition, said Matthew Boyer, a research assistant in the College of Education.

“I think it’s simple cost of living increases,” Boyer said of the need for a wage increase. “Everything gets more expensive and we need to stay in line with that.”

Under the current contract, graduate students are guaranteed a 2 percent raise every year. The new contract would last four years with no wage increase.

Chris Hanna, interim assistant vice president for human resources, said because negotiations with GEU are ongoing, university officials could not comment.

With living expenses on the rise, graduate students need a bump in pay, said Daniel Roth, a TA.

“If your car breaks down and it’s going to take $200 to fix it, it’s going to take four months to work that off,” Roth said.

For students like Bray, supporting her daughter is made just that much more difficult.

“I don’t know how any graduate student who is still taking classes could do what I am doing,” she said.

Published on Thursday, January 17, 2008