5th Bargaining Session: Aug 1st, 2024

On Thursday, August 1, GSEU met with SUNY and the State of New York to hold our fifth bargaining session to negotiate a new contract! We have reached our first tentative agreement, so far, on Job Postings. This session we worked through five articles, some of which expanded upon protections provided by current contract articles, and others which would include new protections not current afforded by the collective bargaining agreement:

Article 4: Discrimination: The Union provided yet another counter proposal to the State of New York and SUNY that would allow graduate workers to explicitly grieve a hostile work environment.

Article 21: Job Postings: We’ve reached a tentative agreement on this article that would better allow graduate students to find GSEU-eligible positions online!

Article 15: Meeting Space: The Union provided a counter proposal to the State of New York and SUNY that would allow GSEU to have office space on SUNY campuses–this better allows GSEU to work with members and would guarantee privacy when talking about difficult or personal topics with your union representative.

Article 26: Lists: The Union proposed a revision to a current article that would require Universities and Colleges to provide GSEU with more frequent and accurate lists of employees in the bargaining unit, which would facilitate our communication with you!

Article 20: Notification of Appointment: The Union proposed a revision to a current article that asks Universities and Colleges to provide full-year appointments to graduate workers (rather than semester-by-semester basis), as well as Departments having to provide appointment letters well in advance of the start of the academic year.
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Article X: International Student Worker Rights and Protections: The Union proposed a brand new article that provides protections and support specifically to international graduate workers. Specifically, this article would require Universities and Colleges to provide paid leave to international graduate workers while they manage visa paperwork, as well as provide temporary alternative work assignments in cases when workers cannot return to the US.