12th Bargaining Session: Feb 12th, 2025

New York State Proposes Stipends Below Minimum Wage says deciding whether to eat or pay rent is "Our Choice"!

On Wednesday, February 12th, GSEU met with SUNY and the State of New York to hold our twelfth bargaining session to negotiate a new contract. This session followed last week’s coordinated petition drops on SUNY campuses where GSEU members publicly voiced their displeasure at the rate of bargaining, and listed what they were looking for in a strong contract. 

Here is what happened at the last session:

Compensation: Last session GSEU proposed a minimum stipend of $40,059 for upstate based schools and $44,731 for downstate based schools, based on cost of living and competition among peer institutions. In response, the State of New York and SUNY proposed raises of only 3% to existing base stipends, raising base stipends to a mere $11,102, which is over $1,000 lower than working a 20 hour job at the lowest tier of NYS minimum wage and over $2,000 below someone working the downstate minimum wage tier. Additionally, while GSEU proposed ending the tiered compensation system between University Centers that must offer stipends above a contractual minimum and SUNY colleges that have no such requirement, SUNY and the State of New York refused to even consider a base stipend amount for graduate workers at the SUNY colleges. When the GSEU bargaining committee further pressed SUNY and the State to consider how graduate workers can survive on stipends lower than the NYS minimum wage, OER Director and Counsel for New York State Mike Volforte replied that graduate workers “have a choice to make” and do not “have to take the job”. It should be noted that graduate workers make up approximately 60% of all educational based labor at SUNY across New York State.

Partial Victory! International Students: In reaction to public pressure from GSEU members across New York State, SUNY and the State of New York backtracked from their previous position and offered to provide tax and immigration experts to International Members in conjunction with GSEU, with all workshops with these experts to be recorded and widely distributed for all that may need them. No word yet on Leaves of Absence for Visa Procedures or payments to International Students offered through SSN alternatives. 

Leaves of Absence: GSEU proposed allowing TAs and GAs to be a part of the NYS Sick and Safe Leave program, which would allow them to take paid leave not only for illness but for leaving situations of domestic violence. We also proposed allowing time accrued working for the Research Foundation as an RPA to count, as many GAs and TAs who switch between lines yearly or semesterly would never qualify for the program. 

Insurance: GSEU countered the insurance proposal from NYS and SUNY by eliminating sections that would result in a restriction of care, simplifying the summer continuation process and waivers and adding an option for couples, who currently have to pay the premiums for the most costly family plan. 

Workload: GSEU proposed a workload article that would further solidify the maximum 20 hour work week for grad workers, restrict the ability for supervisors to add last minute additional work and outlining a clear process for graduate workers to receive recourse if they are forced to work beyond 20 hours a week. Additional training required by specific departments would have to be paid, or be encompassed in a 20 hour work week, rather than in addition to.

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