GENU-UAW Bargaining Committee

Here are the members of the GENU-UAW Bargaining Committee:

Xenia Dragon

My name is Xenia Dragon. I’m a second year PhD student in the Khoury College of Computer Sciences. As an organizer involved in the unionization effort here over the past year, from the card drive to organizing turnout for our sweeping election win, I would be honored to represent all Northeastern grad workers as a bargaining committee member.

As RAs, TAs, and graders, I believe all grad workers do critical work for the university, and we deserve fair compensation, benefits, and ultimately to be respected in our relationship with university administration. Yet, in interacting with a lot of grad workers across departments over the past year of organizing, there are many things we currently lack: a living wage across all programs, dental and vision benefits, visa protections, and protections from discrimination and harassment, to name a few. If elected to the bargaining committee, I will fight for a contract that includes significant improvements in all these areas.

In September, we won the union vote with an impressive 94% yes. I personally voted yes because I believe that a democratic process of collective bargaining is the best way to fight for necessary change for the good of everyone. I hope to be an important part of this process, and bring all grad worker interests to the bargaining table with inclusiveness and transparency.

Sydney Purdue

I am a second-year PhD student in the College of Arts, Media and Design in the Interdisciplinary Design and Media program. I have been organizing with GENU-UAW for the past year as a part of the Organizing Committee, and as I’ve talked with graduate workers across our unit on walkthroughs, during rallies, and through personal conversations, it’s been extremely clear to me how much we all stand to gain from a strong contract. I want to fight for improvements that will impact all of us but also for those that will have a direct and substantial benefit for a subset of students, like international students or students with children. I want to be sure that we bring the daily issues and realities of our members to the bargaining table to voice the ways we deserve to be treated better by Northeastern.

As soon as I became a member of this community, I knew I wanted to join the union to help fight for better conditions for all of us, and I’d love to continue to do that as a member of the bargaining committee. I’m excited to help win our contract for us now, but I’m also thrilled to establish a strong foundation for incoming graduate workers who can join our community with more protections, more financial security, and better benefits and to set yet another precedent of the collective power of graduate workers with an excellent contract.

Niki Thomas

My name is Niki Thomas, I am doing my PhD in Bioengineering, and I would be honored to represent the College of Engineering on our union’s bargaining committee. Having seen what a union can do for grads while at the University of California, I have been involved in the fight for our unionization since transferring here last year. I know from first hand experience that what Northeastern offers us is well below what our colleagues receive at other academic institutions, and I am dedicated to ensuring that we get the improvements that we so desperately need. As researchers, teachers, and graders we are the primary workforce of the university. We deserve to be compensated fairly and to be treated with dignity regardless of our degree path, nationality, health status, or identity. Should it come to a vote and I am elected, I will continue to advocate fiercely for our community at the bargaining table.

Sarah Elizabeth Gillespie

Hello! I’m Sarah Elizabeth Gillespie, a rising second-year PhD student in Khoury’s Institute of Cybersecurity and Privacy. I have a background in quantitative economics, statistics, and data science from double majoring in those topics over at Smith College in Western Massachusetts, where I transferred to from my hometown community college. I worked a biotech job in Kendall for a couple years so I also have the experience in a corporate job to contrast to our current experiences as graduate student works. I will fight for you, the regular people who deserve a much better working experience, while at the bargaining table.

Arslan Sheikh

As a member of the Department of the Pharmaceutical Sciences (Pharm Sci) within the Bouve College of Health Sciences, I have seen firsthand the power of collective action to push for equality across Colleges. Many laboratories within Pharmaceutical Sciences have students from the Chemistry and Chemical Biology (CCB) Department assigned to the same PI, yet until last year, CCB students made $7000 more per annum than Pharm Sci students. Thanks to the efforts of UAW staff and grad workers in reaching out across departments and garnering massive waves of support, the Pharm Sci department increased the annual stipend for the first time in years. I want to continue the fight for equality and better working and living conditions for all grad workers at NEU. I’ve known firsthand from my experiences talking to current grad workers, prospective students, and serving on the Pharm Sci Department Faculty Committee as a graduate representative the need for better working conditions and how that would benefit all parties involved. As a member of the bargaining committee, I would be resolute in fighting for the grad worker proposals in the contract, while also continuing to reach out across departments and colleges within NEU to ensure that all student feedback is taken into consideration.

Eli Hovland

Statement coming soon…

Noah Smith

My name is Noah Smith and I’m a rising third-year PhD student in the English department. I am running for the Bargaining Committee to fight for better working conditions for all Northeastern graduate students. 

As a first-generation college student, I am proud to be pursuing a career in academia at Northeastern University. However, this should not come at such a steep cost. I know many graduate students like myself across the university struggle with unlivable wages in the second most expensive city in America and receive abysmal protections that force us to exist at the whims of our advisors.

As a former public school teacher in Philadelphia, I was a member of a strong union that secured salary increases and COVID protections for teachers working in dilapidated buildings. I grew very close with our school’s union representative and when I left the district for graduate school she encouraged me to get involved with any organizing efforts I could. Since I arrived at Northeastern in September 2022, I’ve had countless conversations with graduate students across campus about the issues affecting all of us. When I was appointed as the union representative for the English department by our student government last Fall, I worked hard during the election to ensure our department showed up in the overwhelming win that signaled the potential of our collective power as a union to the university. 

If elected to the bargaining committee, I hope to bring my previous organizing experiences and my commitment to our union’s cause to the fight for a successful contract. I pledge to honor this responsibility and tackle the bargaining process with the same enthusiasm I’ve had for the growth of this union over the last two years.