Around a dozen members of NYU’s graduate student union gathered on the first floor of Bobst Library at a Wednesday study-in, demanding that the university meet with them to discuss their protections as both students and unionized workers.
The demonstration was organized by GSOC-UAW Local 2110, which represents over 3,000 graduate student workers, and aims to bring attention to student concerns that they weren’t treated fairly during disciplinary hearings. Participants, some wearing keffiyehs, had signs and stickers reading “NYU amnesty x protections now, or we strike” and “PROTECT STUDENT WORKERS,” and primarily used the space to silently work.
In discussions with passers-by, the union expressed concern that administrators are denying them worker rights by treating them as students rather than student workers during disciplinary hearings. Oya Gursoy, an organizer with the union and a GSAS Ph.D. student, said in an interview with WSN that when graduate workers were suspended for participating in a pro-Palestinian sit-in last semester, the university denied them speech protections stipulated in their contract.
GSOC’s Collective Bargaining Agreement, which is a contract between the university and the union, gives workers the right to confront behavior they believe to be discriminatory. But Gursoy said that when GSOC members raised concerns about sanctions for those involved in the sit-in, they were dismissed — despite having discrimination-based claims — because the university claimed that they were protesting as students.
“This is a comfortable distinction for the university to use at will when they want to deny us the right to protest at our workplace,” Gursoy said.
Alia ElKattan, an organizing member of the union and GSAS Ph.D. student, also said that the gathering at Bobst aimed to encourage workers to use university spaces that some members were barred from last semester. In a March petition, GSOC claimed that three graduate students faced suspensions and lost their on-campus jobs following the library sit-in, with several other students barred from university buildings.
“Even today, you see the set of barricades outside of Bobst — it’s becoming increasingly difficult to access campus spaces,” ElKattan said. “We’ve been hearing that it’s discouraging workers from using campus facilities.”
The contract union was ratified in June 2021 after nearly a year of negotiations and a three-week strike. It is set to expire in August 2026, with GSOC members planning to emphasize protections for international students and the right to express political speech.
Contact Leena Ahmed at [email protected].