On February 15 and 16, we are proud to say that we are voting yes to form our union, GSWOC-UAW. Many of us have worked over the past year to discuss forming a union with our colleagues – in the lab, after our classes, at town halls and coffee hours, and numerous other venues. USC grad workers, across every corner of campus, are excited to move forward to build a strong, democratic organization that benefits us all.

The specific reasons for forming a union are varied across our different departments and disciplines, but we are united in a belief that by banding together we can have greater support and better lives. With a union, we can address problems like earning less than a living wage, insufficient healthcare benefits, discrimination, bullying and harassment, and a lack of legal and structural support for international workers – just like over a hundred thousand other academic workers who have already joined UAW. As thousands more grad student workers continue to unionize we will continue to see Universities pushed to provide better compensation, better benefits, and better workplace protections.

Despite hundreds of Grad Student Workers calling on USC to remain neutral, they have clearly stated their position – “we do not believe that unionization is in the best interests of our graduate students” (USC letter to Faculty). We expect there to be an anti-union campaign designed to instill fear – like falsely claiming that we will have no choice but to go on strike, or using the past corruption of a few individuals to convince academic workers like us not to unionize. But we encourage everyone to be informed and know that fundamentally, a union is about us having a democratic say in our working conditions.

Voting “yes” to form our union is an act to benefit the entire grad student worker community. USC GSWs should not have to endure multi-year wage freezesbullying and harassment, or being treated differently because they are on a visa. Once our union has been formed, we can elect a bargaining team of GSWs, discuss and agree on initial bargaining demands, and then all participate in the process of negotiating with USC administration. We are committed to winning a union contract that improves the lives of every GSW, and are prepared to organize together to reach this goal. It starts by voting “yes” to form our union on February 15 and 16.

Last – join us for coffee hour! This is a great place to discuss our progress and ask questions. The next coffee hour will be this Thursday, Feb 2 at 1:00 pm outside Annenberg Hall. RSVP here!

In solidarity,

Negar Ahani, Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
Danny Goodelman, Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
Haotian Hang, Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
Fares Maimani, Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
Jason Vu, American Studies and Ethnicity
Dillon Sung, American Studies and Ethnicity
Pratik Nyaupane, Annenberg
Cerianne Robertson, Annenberg
Hamsini Sridharan, Annenberg
Margot Yale, Art History
Elana Helou, Astronautical Engineering
Bennett Van Camp, Biology of Aging
Lynne Cherchia, Biomedical Engineering
James Eichenbaum, Biomedical Engineering
Alisa Peshina, Biomedical Engineering
Niki Tavakoli, Biomedical Engineering
Tristan McPhail, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science
Lucia Dalle Ore, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science
Megan Cassingham, Chemistry
James Fortwengler, Chemistry
Tirthick Majumder, Chemistry
Sean Parsons, Chemistry
Allen Shariaty, Chemistry
Raven Althouse, Civil and Environmental Engineering
Anna Arcaro, Civil and Environmental Engineering
Maile McCann, Civil and Environmental Engineering
Stepp Mayes, Civil and Environmental Engineering
McKenna Peplinski, Civil and Environmental Engineering
Connor Sauceda, Civil and Environmental Engineering
Edie Adams, Comparative Studies in Literature and Culture
Selene Canter, Comparative Studies in Literature and Culture
Ana Iwataki, Comparative Studies in Literature and Culture
Nisarg P., Comparative Studies in Literature and Culture
Sayan Ghosh, Computer Science
Lee Kezar, Computer Science
Brian Kim, Computer Science
Casandra Rusti, Computer Science
Sulyab Thottungal Valapu, Computer Science
Ani Saxena, Computer Science
Tori Cassady, Earth Sciences
Alex Dill, Earth Sciences
Maya Yanez, Earth Sciences
Shreya Bhardwaj, Economics
Wenda Ma, Economics
Guillermo Castro, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Zhonghao Du, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Mohamed Elsawaf, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Hassan Hamad, Electrical and Computer Engineering

Khaled Hassan, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Lorri Rao, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Max Lien, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Piril Nergis, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Zalan Fabian, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Zak Breckenridge, English
Bryan Byrdlong, English
Melissa Chadburn, English
Antonia Crane, English
Michael Deagler, English
Seth Fischer, English
Katie Googe, English
Lucas Iberico Lozada, English
Eleanor Batista-Malat, Gerontology
Lauren Kelly, History
Daniel Delgado, History
Rocio Leon, ASE
Qing Jin, Industrial and Systems Engineering
Suyanpeng Zhang, Industrial and Systems Engineering
Sina Baharlouei, Industrial and Systems Engineering 
Jessica Campbell, Linguistics
Elango Kumaran, Linguistics
Jun Lyu, Linguistics 
Jennifer Beatty, Marine and Environmental Biology
Jenna Dilworth, Marine and Environmental Biology
Kyla Kelly, Marine and Environmental Biology
Cara Schiksnis, Marine and Environmental Biology
Daniel Olivares-Zambrano, Marine and Environmental Biology
Maya Cratsley, Marshall
Sam Armon, Mathematics
J.E. Paguyo, Mathematics
Bixing Qiao, Mathematics
Linds Wise, Mathematics
Kelly DeWeese, Molecular Biology
Andrew Janeiro, Molecular Biology
Daniel Styrpejko, Molecular Biology
Alex Belohlavek, Music
Rebecca Stark, Neuroscience
Nancy Tran, Neuroscience
Laura Korobkova, Neuroscience
Yiyang Fang, Occupational Science
Madeline Parga, Occupational Science
Andrew Stewart, Philosophy
Emanuel Dallas, Physics and Astronomy
Anna Haynie, Physics and Astronomy
Dimple Sarnaaik, Physics and Astronomy
Benjamin Zhang, Physics and Astronomy
Stephanie Navarro, Population and Public Health Sciences
Julia Stal, Population and Public Health Sciences
Jordy Coutin, Price 
Jeimee Estrada, Price
Jody Liu, Price
Aisling O’Reilly, Price 
Marley Randazzo, Price
Samuel Ross-Brown, Price
Jose Scott, Price
Caleb Schimke, Programs in Biomedical and Biological Science
Ariel Vonk, Programs in Biomedical and Biological Science
DJ Fernandez, Programs in Biomedical and Biological Science
Raquel Centeno, Political Science and International Relations
José Múzquiz, Political Science and International Relations
Melissa Watanabe, Political Science and International Relations
Jessica Walker, Political Science and International Relations
Miguel Hijar-Chiapa, Political Science and International Relations
Ian Anderson, Psychology
Pragya Arya, Psychology
Ellen Herschel, Psychology
Gabriel A. León, Psychology
Dallace Francis, Quantitative and Computational Biology
Ho Ming Lam, Quantitative and Computational Biology
Vardges Tserunyan, Quantitative and Computational Biology
Meg Tiller, Religion
Shelby Smith, Rossier
Natsumi Ueda, Rossier
Thomas DePaola, Rossier
Lewis Brown, School of Cinematic Arts
Yoni Hirshberg, School of Cinematic Arts
Tania Sarfraz, School of Cinematic Arts
Wakae Nakane, School of Cinematic Arts
Eneos Carka, School of Cinematic Arts
N. Trace Cabot, School of Cinematic Arts
Dmitrii Kuznetsov, Slavic Languages and Literatures
Rory O’Brien, Social Work
Maggie Davis, Sociology
Kyle Hulburd, Sociology
Maria Labourt, Sociology
Vaclav Masek, Sociology
Kritika Pandey, Sociology
Dawy Rkasnuam, Sociology