Hi Alisha, If you can find some faculty allies to help make your case (both in the value of grad students to the university and in the impact of workspace on your productivity), their voice might carry more weight with campus admin.
On our campus "academic student employees" (including TAs and RAs) are unionized - UAW local 4121. You might want to talk to union organizers in your area about the benefits of collective bargaining (no I'm not trying to start a new thread on that topic). yours, John John Withey Postdoctoral Research Associate University of Washington
