Instructors and Students Plan Walkouts

It's getting warm out, which can mean only one thing: College strike season is here! At the University of Michigan, graduate student instructors began a two-day walkout Tuesday, after negotiations over a 9 percent salary hike fell apart, the Michigan Daily reports. The two sides had made progress over other issues regarding part-time instructors earlier.

The union that represents these instructors has told members to picket in front of major university buildings, cancel classes, and cease any communications with their students. Not only will students not hear from instructors via E-mail and office hours, but they won't be harassed by them from the picket line, the union president assures. "Our picket is not meant to be a confrontational thing at all."

At the University of Louisville, students plan to walk out of class at 1:11 p.m. Wednesday in protest of tuition increases, the Louisville Cardinal reports. The school's student government did not endorse the walkout, which will be followed by a rally, but organizers still expect at least 100 students to join—optimistically hoping for at least 700 to show. "The best thing that could happen with the walkout is for the administration to realize the power of the students."