Of the more than 450 classes Fordham offers, 30% are taught by graduate students. These students are expected to balance their lives and research along with the classes they teach. According to some graduate students, there was minimal communication between departments in the graduate school until 2020, when the pandemic put international students’ visas at risk.
“There was a big question of whether taking online classes qualified you to keep your visa,” said Alfredo Dueñas, a graduate student in the philosophy department. “Then, of course, once communication started between the departments, they realized the one-off problems that they were finding were actually problems that were all around the graduate school.”
The process took a few years, but in April 2022, the graduate students voted, and with 94% of the vote in favor of forming a union, the Fordham Graduate Student Workers (FGSW) was born. Their negotiations began almost immediately but did not have the impact the union hoped for. In April of this year, they had a three-day walkout in protest of the stagnation of their negotiations.
“Since the walkout last semester, we’ve seen some movement, and we want to keep that momentum going,” said Dueñas.
The Fordham Ram contacted Bob Howe, the associate vice president for communications, for a statement regarding recent negotiations with the union. Howe declined to comment.
The University’s website has a page on union negotiations, which states that its goal is to “ensure that we are sharing real-time, transparent information with the community.”
According to Dueñas, the FGSW does not feel their requests have been taken seriously. “We want to make sure we have a say in our safety and working conditions. We want to be able to do the best for our students.”
Many undergraduate students, whether they are taught by graduate students or not, are not impartial to these negotiations.
“I think the student union is doing something great by trying to actually help these people that are students and doing a full-time job,” said Molly May, FCRH ’25.
“I work in the mood and behavior lab with a graduate student. If you’re in the psychology program, you have to give therapy to other Fordham students, and you’re not compensated for that.”
The union said it has worked hard on outreach, and their support comes not only from other graduate students but also from alumni and undergraduate families.
“I know I received a flier about it for the club fair; it seems like a serious issue, and I wish I knew more about it,” said Ian Colton, GSB ’27.
Due to the university’s Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) policy, the university does not provide easy access to all graduate students for ease of contact.
“We don’t want to know your grades, we don’t want to know your dissertation focus. That’s not of our concern. We just want to protect ourselves as workers,” said Dueñas.
Graduate students do not have dental or vision insurance and often face immense difficulty claiming dependents on the health insurance they do have. Many international graduate students experience additional issues when working with the university. The union also states that many offices are unable to work with students who are not citizens and do not know how to modify documents to work with student visas.
The contract negotiations began almost a year and a half ago, with no final decision. Dueñas said the wait has not dissuaded the students, and they have grown in number as negotiations continue. They hope their negotiations will continue this year and be more successful.
“What we’re fighting for isn’t really just for us. Fordham overall benefits from this,” Dueñas said.
Further updates on the union’s work can be seen on their Instagram page, @fordhamgsw.
