New York Graduate Worker (NYGW) is releasing its first issue on May 1st, 2026. Previously, it was The Stony Brook Worker, based at the Stony Brook University chapter of CWA 1104, Graduate Student Employees Union (GSEU). As NYGW, we are expanding this labor publication initiative to cover our whole Education Division, which, alongside GSEU chapters across the state, includes Fordham Graduate Student Workers (FGSW), Research Assistants Union (RAU), New York State College of Ceramics Graduate Students Union (NYSCC GSU).
Our campus and community are home to many different labor struggles, all of which are invaluable. The struggles that we endure collectively keep the workers that make up our community safe and healthy, and we seek to ensure that all of us receive what we deserve: a fair wage, workplace autonomy, respect, dignity, and a life that is fulfilling.
Even though it is our labor and collective efforts that build, sustain, and further our institutions, many of us are not aware of each others’ struggles and issues. And while we are divided and alienated from one another in this context, those who manage our workplaces move with unified action and communication. This needs to change. We may be workers toiling away in different places, jobs, and capacities, but the issues that we face — including but not limited to attacks on worker autonomy, overwork, lack of hazard pay, expectations to perform unpaid labor, and of course wages that are below any living wage thresholds — apply to us all, and they unify us in a clear way: As divided individuals, we are at the behest of our respective employers, but when we unite as workers, we can have power.
This current status quo of power structures between workers and managers in our workplaces and in society overall reflects a clear imperative for us to break down the barriers between us, and to unite as workers. This unity is indispensable if we are to create a workplace in which we have a voice. Striving for complete workplace democracy, we envision a workplace in which the power of determination over our lives and workplace lie within our own hands, and we believe this to be a fundamental requirement of a democratic and just society as a whole. That is why we see labor solidarity as directly tied to our living conditions beyond our campus community.
Furthermore, we know that many of us who are academic workers produce significant research that intersects with labor issues. This work may be difficult for everyone to reach and relate to since, up until this moment, we did not have a unified publication dedicated to this topic. We believe that the political and practical promises of this kind of research need an outlet that will combine academic research and labor struggles, and communicate these to our community on a regular basis.
Guided by these principles and visions, we continue New York Graduate Worker as a publication that will unify practical, historical, and theoretical questions and themes related to all aspects of labor, and to create a platform for our community where we can share ideas and advance our struggles. We hope that our publication will encourage and further meaningful discourse about these issues in our community.
We always look for contributions from grad workers and beyond.
An injury to one is an injury to all!
Long live worker solidarity!
To order a physical copy or pitch an article, email sbugseu@gmail.com
