Now that the strike is over I can write about it a little bit more. I was not super involved, mainly picked up picketing shifts when I could, but it was still a powerful movement to be involved in.
Seeing how the graduate students came together to support a common cause was really incredible. I do not usually feel that connected to the rest of the students since this school is so big, but this brought us together. It felt like we could all talk about and connect over this is nothing else. No matter what we studied, this was something we cared about.
I am pretty disappointed with how it ended, basically with the school threatening to dissolve the union and forcing us to accept their offer. Sure the offer is better than the first one they offered, but it is not great. It just feels like a disappointing ending to a movement that had to much potential.
Still, that does not negate everything that we did over the week of the strike. We made our voices heard and our position clear. We spread the word about our position to the community and were joined by so many people. And we showed that students at this university take care of each other and look after each other.
Unfortunately this is just the way change tends to happen. Excruciatingly slowly. And we don't have the time for that. But it is part of activism that we will have to accept for now.
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