NMSU graduate student assistant union recognized by university

LAS CRUCES, N.M. (KFOX14) — New Mexico State University Chancellor Dan Arvizu announced that the university will not appeal the State Public Employee Labor Union Relations Board’s decision to certify the NMSU Graduate Workers United Union.

Members of the union said they are asking that they be given access to healthcare and be provided a living wage.

However, their number one issue is tuition.

At NMSU, graduate assistants must pay for their tuition, unlike other schools that might waive their tuition.

NMSU graduate student assistants make anywhere between $24,000 and $26,000 a year.

Between tuition and room and board, they're paying about half of their salary.

“We take home about $12,000. So that’s without accounting for anything else. The living wage right now in Las Cruces is thirty-two-thousand-dollars, so we’re approaching making one-third of a living wage and that twelve-thousand is also below the federal poverty line,” said Matt Varakian, a Ph.D. student and organizer with NMSU Graduate Workers United.

In a statement, Arvizu said he looks forward to continuing the dialogue with the graduate assistants and working to address the concerns they have.

The organizers said they have not been given a timeline as to when that may happen.

“Just based on the current morale of the graduate students, if we are being pushed to the point where some of the student body is actually looking into transferring out like dropping their programs,” said Ali Hyder, a graduate worker in the Astronomy Department and organizer with NMSU Graduate Workers United.

Organizers said they hope they will be able to progress talks with the university by the fall semester.

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