“As [a research assistant]* and a [teaching assistant], you do work as a student, but you’re also an employee,” Boland said. “You want to make sure that your interests as an employee are looked after and not just your interests as a student, and so I think it’s important to have an union, to have a body that can represent your interests.”
Kenyon College student workers are on an unfair labor practice strike today. The strike comes during a campaign to organize the first US union representing all undergraduate workers on a campus. Jacobin spoke to several strikers and two campus maintenance workers supporting them about why they’re organizing — and how other students can follow their example.
"My coworkers and I are incredibly happy and I’m grateful for all of them and the work everyone put in," says Grabowski. "I’m excited to collaborate together on our shared goals of our workplace and affiliate being the best it can be for staff, patients, and the community."