Graduate student teachers at the University of Michigan have been on strike for the past month demanding fair wages, sexual harassment protections and new provisions for campus safety, among other issues. In response to the strike, University of Michigan’s president moved to withhold worker salaries and sent police officers to intimidate strikers, resulting in one graduate worker being attacked by an officer. This is Amir Fleischmann of the Graduate Employees’ Organization.
Amir Fleischmann: “Over the past three years, we’ve seen the gap between our salary and the cost of living triple. This is something that’s being felt by workers all across the country, where corporate profits are at record highs, CEOs are getting humongous bonuses and even bigger salaries, while workers are being left to struggle and to take scraps. Workers at the University of Michigan are saying enough is enough, and that’s why we’re on strike.”