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On Wednesday, January 29th, GSEU met with SUNY and the State of New York to hold our eleventh bargaining session to negotiate a new contract. Here is what happened at the last session:
Compensation: GSEU proposed a minimum stipend of $40,059 for upstate based schools and $44,731 for downstate based schools. This new minimum would move us from amongst the lowest paid stipends to a national leader in graduate compensation. These wages would cover all state graduate workers, regardless of degree program and department and would include the colleges outside of the university centers. 2% annual raises would continue on top of these base rates. Graduate workers are increasingly burdened as wages have not kept up with inflation and housing costs. Additionally, SUNY graduate wages are not competitive with peer AAU and R1 and R2 schools, and rank consistently near the bottom on multiple measures of compensation. The proposal would split SUNY schools into two categories; Upstate and Downstate, with the Hudson valley serving as the dividing line. This was determined based on costs of living. Funds: GSEU proposed two additional funds: an emergency fund accessible by all graduate workers and a fund exclusively for international student hardship and emergencies. We proposed to maintain all other funds except for the downstate location fund, which would be no longer relevant thanks to the new stipend floors. External Employment: New York State and SUNY proposed a new side letter to replace side letter #8, covering external employment. Graduate workers would be permitted to seek external employment under this new side letter, but permission would need to be granted by the campuses, with particular consideration given to a grad worker’s academic progress, their visa status and whether or not any grants they may be paid under restricts outside employment. GSEU believes that unless SUNY pays a living stipend, they have no right to any say on external employment whatsoever. Health And Safety: New York State and SUNY so far refuse protect workers who refuse to work in unsafe environments. They prefer that management decide whether a workplace is safe or unsafe. They have indicated a willingness to hold monthly labor and management committee meetings to discuss workplace safety and to offer all safety equipment at the University’s cost that is required by either the university policy or outside laws to do one’s job(yes, this phrase confused us as well). Insurance: NYS and SUNY updated the current article 6 on health insurance to comply with mandates from the Affordable Care Act as well as any relevant NYS laws. They also proposed an appendix be added to the contract to cover insurance definitions regarding in versus out of network care as well as laws regarding surprise billing. Infusion Center Coverage: NYS and SUNY also proposed allowing graduate workers to join the Infusion Coverage program that would encourage patients to receive infusions when possible at a center, office or at home and not require these be delivered in outpatient hospital centers. This would both reduce costs and also reduce risk of exposure to germs for immunocompromised individuals.
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This session we worked on the Health & Safety article, moving closer to common ground with management:
Article 10: Health and Safety: The state reworked the health and safety article completely, proposing a committee system spanning from the campus to the SUNY-wide level for responding to safety issues as they arise. Although this approach differs from the one we initially proposed, we welcomed the attempt to institute a thorough, clear, and standardized procedure for addressing health and safety concerns. The power to grieve inadequate responses to health and safety concerns, a major priority for us, was not included in the state’s proposal. In our counterproposal, GSEU added some things that are important to our members, like provisions for PPE, procedures to address immediate hazards, and temporary relocation protocol, and added a requirement to produce reports whenever immediate hazards arise. We also cut language that would bar GSEU from grieving inadequate responses to health and safety concerns. Article 11: Labor-Management Meetings: The state proposed changes to this article alongside their Health & Safety proposal to highlight the integration of health & safety response procedures into regular labor-management meetings. Labor-management meetings are where GSEU representatives discuss membership concerns with their campus Labor Relations representatives. Article X: External Employment: The state, without providing a written counter, reiterated that they plan to require prior authorization for members who want to get a second job. If they want the power to limit our ability to take other jobs, then they must be prepared to pay us a full-time equivalent, living wage. |
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