Washington University Graduate Workers Union marched to Chancellor Mark Wrighton’s house to demand $15 an hour and childcare for all Oct. 31.

Washington University Graduate Workers Union (WUGWU) hosted “The Night of the Living Wage,” wherein members dressed up in Halloween costumes and went “trick or treating” at Wrighton’s house to demand a $15 hourly wage and free childcare for all campus workers. This event follows the delivery of a petition with 1,300 signatures with their demands to Wrighton last Saturday.

A crowd of over 30 people rallied at the South 40 Clocktower around 6 p.m., chanting “What’s outrageous? Poverty wages!” and “We, we are scary, we are spooky, for fifteen.” The group then marched to Wrighton’s house, carrying signs and tombstone-shaped pickets demanding “$15 an hour and childcare for all now!”

“It seemed like the next progression to keep applying direct action to the Chancellor,” anthropology Ph.D. candidate Kelsey Nordine said. “In the spirit of the holiday we thought it’d be a good one.”

Risa Zwerling, Wrighton’s wife, answered the door to a delegation of protesters. Because Zwerling said that Wrighton was not available, the protesters left their tombstone pickets in the tree lawn in front of the house.

“He wasn’t there in person for us to tell him our demands, so we’ll be back,” Nordine said.

Members from Fossil Free Wash. U. and Asians and Pacific Islanders Demanding Justice (APIDJ) marched in support of WUGWU.

“We feel that a living planet, which is what we advocate for, needs a living wage,” junior Allie Lindstrom said. “You never know which event is going to be the one which tips the Chancellor either way, but WUGWU has a long history of success so I think this will be another one moving forward.”

“We help each other whenever we can, because we think collaboration and fighting for each other’s causes and intersectional causes is really important,” APIDJ member and junior Amanda Im said.

Graduate student Brian Tran characterized the University as, “an island of wealth.”

“I think the action will happen off-screen,” Tran said. “We left behind the gravestones on the lawn. I’m sure Chancellor Wrighton will have a conversation with his wife.”

At the end of the rally, organizers urged the crowd to vote “Yes” on Proposition B, which would increase Missouri’s minimum wage to $12 an hour by 2023.