Duties to Graduate Workers: Labor Protections in the Era of COVID-19

This post is a part of The COVID-Chronicles series. This series is dedicated to giving voice to graduate student experiences and needs during the course of the pandemic. It is a space for graduate students to come together, to share, to listen, to reflect, to empathize, to lament, and to learn from one another. We hope that faculty and administrators will listen to and engage in dialogue with graduate students, and act in ways to help support the graduate student community.

Even before the run on Lysol wipes, before the masks, and before “social distancing” became a ubiquitous phrase, graduate workers found themselves in a losing battle against the university powers that be. In September, the Trump-appointed National Labor Relations Board recommended against recognizing graduate workers at private institutions as “employees,” which effectively prevented these workers from forming labor unions. At public institutions, the fight continues, though long-term ambitions are hampered by short-term setbacks. For instance, just this February (though it seems like ages ago), 54 graduate workers were fired from University of California, Santa Cruz for withholding grades during an ongoing labor dispute.

When we ask ourselves the question—“What do universities owe to graduate workers?”—more than an education comes to mind.

At the most basic level, universities have a duty to pay graduate workers adequate wages (e.g., wages that are commensurate with the cost of living) and to provide them with healthcare, so that at the very least they can afford to live, stay healthy, and work while pursuing their education.

Still, many universities fail even to trip over this low bar.

My own university, Indiana University – Bloomington, states that it will cost a graduate worker $21,298 per year to live in Bloomington, Indiana (taking into account tuition remission, cost of living, and required university fees). Meanwhile, the annual stipend for a graduate student in the philosophy department is $15,852 (pre-tax and pre-fees). The math simply doesn’t add up. Despite the fact that many doctoral students stay at their universities for almost a decade, through the age when most people have children, the cost of childcare and extending healthcare to dependents is rarely, if ever, discussed.

If the labor situation for graduate students was dire prior to the coronavirus pandemic, it is now quite literally life or death. In fact, faculty and instructors at Indiana University are now on “the buddy system”—if you or your “buddy” (another professor or instructor) falls ill and are unable to teach your courses, your buddy will step in to fulfill your teaching obligations. No doubt planning for the worst case scenario is warranted. However, there has been no discussion about additional pay for taking on double the teaching load or preparing to step in for one’s colleagues, let alone the possibility of hazard pay for taking on the health risks associated with being exposed to students if classes are in-person.

So, if we add concerns about health and safety to the list of what universities owe to graduate workers (on par with a fair wage and health coverage), what steps can universities take to make good on these obligations?

(1) All graduate workers should be given the opportunity to teach online instead of in person, and to make the decision to go online if their university is holding courses face to face. We must make accommodations for all. Failure to do so will risk one having to out oneself as a member of a vulnerable population (e.g., one’s disability status), risking the exposure of private medical information.

(2) If a graduate worker is required to teach in person (or chooses to do so), these workers should receive hazard pay. Experts agree that prolonged exposure indoors is a high-risk factor—even with social distancing and masks, aerosolized droplets can remain in the classroom for hours. Recognizing that our universities are not immune to economic fluctuation, the implementation of hazard pay comes at a time of lower revenue. However, most schools have endowments which can be relied upon for core functions precisely at a time like this.

What is more core to the function of the university than its graduate workers, who serve both as teachers and researchers? The university works because we do.

(3) If graduate workers must teach in person (or choose to do so), they should be allowed to teach their classes outside (weather permitting). Epidemiologists suggest that outdoor transmission is less likely , thanks to air movement’s dilution of the viral load. There is some discussion that humidity may prevent the droplets from moving, and that sunlight may affect the viability of the virus’ survival. Teaching outside can reduce the risk involved with teaching face to face.

Implementing these policy recommendations is a start to fulfilling the university’s obligation to graduate workers in these unprecedented times. Surely the university will have parallel duties to undergraduate students and faculty. However, graduate workers are disposed to be underpaid and overworked, and therefore already vulnerable to the detrimental expense of falling ill in this crisis. We have a duty to work for our universities, and our universities have a duty to work for us.

Savannah Pearlman

Indiana University-Bloomington

Savannah Pearlman is a Phd Candidate at Indiana University - Bloomington, where she is completing her dissertation on Moral Deference and Marginalized Identities. In addition to her interest in normative epistemology, Savannah has a Phd minor in Higher Education and Student Affairs and a certificate in College Pedagogy. Savannah was an inaugural member of the APA Graduate Student Council and completed her three-year term in Spring 2020.