U. grads sympathize with Yale TAs

As Yale University graduate students go on strike this week, many University graduate students said they sympathize with their fight for a labor union and for job benefits. "I understand their position and I think Yale University needs to respond to their demands and they haven't," fifth-year English doctoral student Katie Conrad said. Creating a union has been talked about in the past, according to former Graduate and Professional Students Association chairperson Ari Brose. "Penn graduate students are not considered employees," Brose said. "But we pay city taxes as employees." Most University teaching assistants are primarily concerned about health care benefits. According to English graduate student Julie Crawford, students pay close to $1,000 for health benefits each year -- or about 10 percent of their salary. But forming a union would not necessarily solve all of the University graduate students' problems. There are also start-up fees entailed in creating the union. "I am particularly interested to see what specific benefits and costs there would be to forming a union," said GAPSA Chairperson and Wharton first-year graduate student Victor Prince. Like their Yale counterparts, University graduate students feel unappreciated. "We don't get any perks and we are overworked and underpaid," Crawford said. "That's something that graduate students everywhere can sympathize with."