The University of Iowa advertises its workplaces as "student first" locations, where student employees are meant to prioritize coursework over their employment, demonstrated by the 20-hour cap each week. Yet, many jobs do not pay enough for students to afford necessities such as rent, groceries, travel funds, and both school and medical expenses, through only one job. As a result, we have to constantly max our work schedules or take on multiple, including off-campus jobs that do not need to legally respect our positions as students. We are forced to instead put work first to afford to live in Iowa City. Students who do not have other means of financial support should not have to worry about Medicaid or SNAP while attending UIowa. We have the right to earn a degree without significant financial strain in the pursuit of higher education.

We are demanding a new university-wide base wage of $15 an hour. This is far from what students need to make at UIowa to live in Iowa City, but it should -- at the very least -- be the base wage for all UIowa employees, whether they be students or not.

You do not need to be a student at UIowa to sign this petition.