Rose Werth News Today

After six years of grassroots organizing and building community support, Northwestern University Graduate Workers launched its formal union drive at a Thursday rally. The organization announced that 95% of its members have voted to affiliate with United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America.  More than 300 NUGW members and supporters filled Deering Meadow for...

Two years ago, despite soaring COVID-19 positivity rates, protests broke out nationwide after police killed George Floyd. At Northwestern that fall — on an otherwise mostly empty campus — community members gathered for more than 30 days of action to abolish University Police and redirect funds toward institutions supporting students of marginalized identities. NU Community...

About 50 people marched from The Rock to the Provost’s Office on Oct. 12, 2021 as Northwestern’s library workers prepared to deliver a list of demands to administrators. Community members, including advocates involved in Northwestern University Graduate Workers and Students Organizing for Labor Rights, accompanied the library workers in support. The workers climbed the stairs...

While Northwestern graduate programs often come with health benefits, some programs leave student workers without dental or vision coverage, and many are left without retirement benefits. Emergency medical expenses can be economically crippling on a graduate stipend, and for those with families, paying child support can prove difficult.  For graduate students, the lack of adequate...

Last month, Columbia University’s graduate student union voted to authorize a strike. Mere weeks later, graduate students at Harvard University went on a three-day strike. There is a “real movement” happening with labor unions across the country, Northwestern University Graduate Workers Co-Chair Rose Werth said, and NUGW is hoping to capitalize on the momentum. Like...