It’s Wednesday, July 10.
Thank you to this week’s sponsor: Dueling Dinosaurs – A tyrannosaur and a Triceratops locked in death. Was it a duel? Dinner? Or a disaster? Reserve your FREE tickets at duelingdinosaurs.org
Good morning, readers.
In the 11 months since they voted to unionize, graduate students at Duke University have been working to form a collective bargaining agreement with the administration, a process that could take another year or more to complete.
Last week, more than a hundred union members watched as administrators presented their first economic proposal, a key part of the bargaining process and the point when wage negotiations happen. But the proposal did not shape up as union members had hoped.
The Duke Graduate Student Union has demanded that the university increase wages for graduate workers from $38,600 to $50,000 a year, citing the current living wage in Durham County ($49,531 a year for a single adult with no dependents; $85,292 for an adult with one dependent) and flagging the fact that many of Duke’s peer institutions have moved to raise stipends in accordance with living wage calculations while Duke has not.
But Duke’s planned raise for the upcoming school year is up to just $40,000.
That’s a much smaller increase than the 11.4 percent increase implemented ahead of the 2023-24 school year, when the stipend minimum was raised from $34,660 to $38,600, says Matthew Reale-Hatem, a PhD candidate in environmental policy.
“It’s worth noting that the increase to $38,600 came the same week as our initial launch rally for our campaign back in September of 2022, directly in response to our unionization offer,” Reale-Hatem says.
A petition to raise wages for grad student workers, originally circulated this winter, has accrued more than 1,000 signatures.
—Lena
Durham
Durham’s community fridges operate with abundance in mind.
Op-Ed: Former school board member Jovonia Lewis says DPS’ Growing Together redistricting plan will help rectify resegregation of schools that has occurred since the Brown v. Board of Education decision in the 1950s.
The South Durham Farmers Market has moved to Hub RTP from its former location at the Greenwood Commons shopping center.
Wake
The Raleigh restaurant scene is changing as businesses come and go.
Orange
An Orange County housing manager reflects on her family’s journey out of food insecurity.
North Carolina
The NC Board of Elections again delayed certifying RFK Jr.’s We The People Party and Cornel West’s Justice for All Party, but it certified the Constitution Party.
Today’s weather
Sunny with a high of 96 degrees.
If you’d like to advertise your business to the Daily’s 30,000-plus subscribers, please contact [email protected]
Love the INDY? Support it by joining the INDY Press Club.
You must be logged in to post a comment.