ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – UNM graduate workers picketed outside of Scholes Hall Wednesday morning while the Board of Regents had a closed door meeting inside about upcoming wage negotiations.

Last December, United Graduate Workers of UNM were in bargaining as part of their initial contract with the university. But union workers say they weren’t able to see the wage improvements they wanted. 

The university gave them a concession to renegotiate in the spring, which has been in the works for a month now. 

The union is pushing for wage increases and for research assistants to be included in this pay raise. 

“We are out here today demanding they give us a living wage. Right now, we are given poverty level wages. Many graduate students can’t afford to pay rent, can’t afford to buy food, let alone support a child or start any kind of family,” said Jason Santos, a UNM graduate student. 

The Board of Regents held an executive session Wednesday morning ahead of negotiations with the graduate workers union on Friday.

“We want to make sure that we are getting all of our graduate workers the treatment that they deserve. The hard work that they put into this university is necessary, this university would not run without us. We just want to be paid accordingly,” said Ashley Bernardo, a UNM graduate student.

UNM has offered a 4% raise for graduate workers. Union members say it is just enough to get many of them off SNAP benefits or medicaid, but not enough to offset the cost of not having that financial support. 

“We need to make sure that the minimums that they are raising people to are not going to just put them out of the benefits that they get from SNAP because that is actually one of the things that they did,” said Bernardo. 

Union workers plan to present research to UNM leadership on Friday.

A recent survey shows a majority of workers in their bargaining unit are food insecure and have difficulty making rent. 70% of them are also supporting another family member.

“For our international students who come here, and we recruit here, they can’t get another job based on their visa. They have to work only through the department, and they often bring families and children here. They just frankly don’t have enough money to subsist,” said Bernardo. 

KOB 4 reached out to the university about Wednesday’s picket. A spokesperson says they are currently engaging in negotiations with the union and, as required by state law, they are being respectful of the process, and they will not comment on details of active negotiations. 

UNM employs around 1,500 grad workers. These are people who are doing research and getting a second degree while teaching around 100 students a year.