Members of the Graduates United of the University of Missouri-Kansas City (GUM-KC) held a rally on Monday, March 7, to protest against the wages the university pays to graduate teaching assistant workers.
“Treatment of the lowest of us is just a reflection of the treatment of the highest of us,” said Ely Fair, a graduate economics student and Ph.D. candidate. “If we don’t have fairness at the bottom, we’re never going to have fairness at the top.”
GUM-KC specifically called for an end to low wages on campus. The organization is asking for hourly pay comparable to Gov. Mike Parson’s proposal of a $15-per-hour minimum wage for state employees.
According to GUM-KC, the university is legally exempt from the state minimum wage requirements, making graduate and undergraduate workers some of the lowest paid employees in Missouri.
“I am eager to address the concerns that have been raised by the group, Graduates United of the University of Missouri-Kansas City, and also dispel some misinformation that is circulating regarding compensation for graduate student work,” said UMKC Chancellor Mauli Agrawal.
Agrawal claims that in the 2021 fiscal year the minimum campus assistantship stipend was set at $15/hour, and pay for graduate teaching assistants, graduate research assistants and graduate assistants is currently meeting that standard.
“I consider the work done by graduate students in academic appointments to be vital to the university, and to the researchers and undergraduates they...
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