{"id":134811,"date":"2023-10-02T14:27:56","date_gmt":"2023-10-02T18:27:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thecollegefix.com\/?p=134811"},"modified":"2023-10-02T14:27:56","modified_gmt":"2023-10-02T18:27:56","slug":"u-iowa-grad-students-shut-down-meeting-demand-emergency-25-percent-raise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thecollegefix.com\/u-iowa-grad-students-shut-down-meeting-demand-emergency-25-percent-raise\/","title":{"rendered":"U. Iowa grad students shut down board meeting, demand \u2018emergency\u2019 25 percent raise"},"content":{"rendered":"

University says minimum pay already equates to $66,000 salary<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Graduate students disrupted a University of Iowa Board of Regents meeting Wednesday to demand their salaries be increased by 25 percent to reflect the growing cost of living.<\/p>\n

About 30 students and union leaders attended the Iowa City meeting to make their demands, shouting and chanting long enough that the regents ended the meeting early, the local chapter of the Campaign to Organize Graduate Students union wrote<\/a> on X.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know what they say, \u2018if we don\u2019t get it, SHUT IT DOWN,\u2019\u201d COGS wrote, posting photos from the meeting.<\/p>\n

Many protesters wore black COGS union T-shirts and carried signs calling for a \u201cliving wage.\u201d One sign read, \u201cI can\u2019t afford veggies,\u201d and another told the university leaders to \u201cget a brain,\u201d photos show.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnionized grad workers and their allies are at the @IowaRegents meeting to demand an emergency wage increase and a more equitable Iowa university system for ALL!\u201d the union continued<\/a> on X.<\/p>\n

A few students signed up to speak to the regents during the public comment period, but the protesters\u2019 chants to \u201cshut it down\u201d succeeded in ending the meeting before anyone had the opportunity, The Gazette<\/em> reports<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Responding afterward, university leaders said the students already received a 3 percent raise that they negotiated, and their salaries are \u201chighly competitive with other Big Ten institutions in the Midwest.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Room FULL of grad workers and community members just SHUT DOWN the Board of Regents meeting. You know what they say, \u201cif we don\u2019t get it, SHUT IT DOWN.\u201d #25PercentNow<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/U69FKJJ6sU<\/a><\/p>\n

— COGS\/UE Local 896 (@cogsunion) September 27, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n