PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Graduate students at Temple University are on strike.
The 750-member Temple University Graduate Students’ Association (TUGSA) took the action Tuesday morning, rallying in the afternoon outside of Charles Library and a Board of Trustees meeting.
Their action follows a year of negotiations with the university for higher wages, increased health care coverage and more parental and bereavement days.
The union said it plans to strike until the university offers a fair contract.
TUGSA members want a 50% salary increase, starting at $32,000; health care coverage that extends to dependents; and 45 paid parental leave days instead of five.
Average wages for the student-teachers and researchers currently fall below $20,000 per year.
The university has stated that graduate students are part-time, temporary employees who work nine months of the year and an average of 20 hours a week, but they get benefits for the full year, on top of free tuition, which is about $20,000 annually. The university has said a $32,000 salary is untenable.
TUGSA President Manasa Gopakumar said tuition remission depends on how many credits students take. For her, that accounts for less than $2,000.
“Nowhere near the $20,000 that they are assuming that I'm getting, plus the tuition remission doesn't pay my bills, doesn't pay my rent,” said Gopakumar. “That money just goes from one office in the university to another office in the university.“
In a statement to KYW Newsradio, Temple University said “After almost a year of negotiations, TUGSA continues to demand 50% pay increases, increases in free health coverage, and other benefits not available to even full-time employees.”
The university has stated that it is willing to increase salaries by 3% every year for four years, double parental leave to 10 days, and provide additional bereavement leave for its employees.
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This is the first strike in TUGSA’s 20-year history.
Temple said it is “hopeful that we can continue working with TUGSA to reach an agreement that benefits all parties in the near future.”
The university plans to keep classes going by providing additional instructors as needed.