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After about six months of initial negotiations with Syracuse University, Syracuse Graduate Employees United announced Tuesday that members will vote on its first tentative contract agreement next week.

In its 19 negotiations with the university, the union has called for protections and benefits in the following categories: compensation, healthcare, discrimination and harassment, international graduate students’ experience, family and parental support and workplace protections.

The tentative agreement includes a median 24% stipend increase for next year, along with 80% subsidized health insurance and 100% subsidized preventative dental care, according to an SGEU Instagram post.

The Daily Orange broke down SGEU’s bargaining tracker, which details status updates from negotiations between the union and the university since its second negotiation session on Oct. 3.

Compensation

SGEU’s bargaining committee and the university reached a tentative agreement on a final comprehensive offer for base compensation on March 7.

In the fall 2024 semester, all Ph.D. academic graduate assistants with a two-semester appointment will receive a minimum stipend of $28,000 for the 2024-25 academic year – a 27.27% increase from the current academic year. By the 2027-28 academic year, the minimum stipend will have increased by at least 36.36%.

Master’s academic graduate assistants with a full 20-hour academic year assistantship will receive a minimum stipend of $24,000, increasing by 20%. The stipend will reach a minimum percentage increase of 25% by the 2027-28 academic year. Graduate students who work as assistants for one-semester appointments will receive half of the stipend for the academic year.

Graduate assistants with a less than 20-hour appointment will receive a pro-rata percentage — a proportional allocation of the minimum stipend. For instance, the tentative agreement suggests an assistant with a 10-hour appointment would receive 50% of the minimum stipend amount.

SGEU initially proposed a tiered pay table for first and second-year graduate assistants, pre-candidacy graduate assistants and Ph.D. candidates, in which years of service correspond with an increase in stipend.

According to the bargaining tracker, the university proposed its first offer for minimum stipends on Jan. 11 for the 2024-25 school year. SU initially proposed $23,000 for Ph.D. students and $20,900 for graduate assistants with a two-semester appointment.

The final comprehensive offer represents an increase of over $1,000 from SU’s March 1 offer. The university proposed $27,000 and $22,720 for Ph.D. and master’s students, respectively.

The contract, if approved, would be the first increase in the minimum stipend levels since December 2022. The university raised the stipend from $16,980 to $20,000 — a 17.79% increase — for graduate assistants with full 20-hour academic year assistantships and $16,980 to $22,000 — a 29.56% increase — for Ph.D. students.

The university also agreed to provide all Ph.D. students with full remission of tuition for their required coursework over at least four academic years, according to the document, and will waive the full Student Health and Wellness Fee for graduate assistants with a 20-hour appointment.

Each graduate student will receive a one-time ratification bonus of $1,000 after the union’s membership has fully ratified the agreement. The bonus will be paid 45 days after ratification.

Healthcare

Graduate assistants and eligible dependents will be eligible for 80% subsidized health insurance and 100% subsidized preventative dental care through the university’s dental insurance plan.

Graduate assistants will be eligible to enroll in SU’s Student Health Insurance Plan, and the university will maintain or improve all benefits covered by SHIP for the duration of the agreement. The dental insurance plan will be administered by First Reliance Standard Life Insurance Company, or an equivalent dental plan.

The university will contribute $50,000 per fiscal year to a “Graduate Assistant Healthcare Support Fund” for the reimbursement of medical expenses that “represent demonstrated financial hardship.”

The document states graduate assistants will be eligible if they have spent at least $501 or more in out-of-pocket SHIP-eligible expenses, drug costs or dental insurance-eligible expenses. The university will review all applications and approve disbursement based on standards established by the university in its “sole discretion.” The fund will be established after ratification of the contract.

SGEU will also designate one of its members to participate on the university’s Student Health and Wellness Advisory Committee. In November, the Barnes Center at The Arch announced it would form a Student Health Advisory Committee for the spring 2024 semester.

Discrimination and harassment

SGEU claims 17.56% of graduate employees report experiencing work-related discrimination or harassment, according to its website, which increases among women, non-binary, and “LGBTIQ+” university employees as well as Middle Eastern and North African, Black and Hispanic graduate employees.

A non-discrimination article from Dec. 7 includes a “Statement of No-Discrimination or Harassment,” as well as procedures for discrimination, harassment, retaliation and Title IX claims.

If a graduate assistant is not satisfied with the outcomes of the applicable university procedures, the parties will engage in a formal, mandatory mediation with a mediator from the American Arbitration Association’s Employment Law Panel.

SU agreed to use graduate assistants’ preferred names on university documents and communication and will not prohibit graduate assistants from engaging in legal political activities, as long as it does not interfere with the “performance of their employer-assigned duties.”

The university will also provide anti-discrimination, anti-harassment and anti-retaliation training to the supervisors of graduate assistants. This training will also include information on how supervisors should respond to requests for a “reasonable accommodation.”

Cindy Zhang | Digital Design Director

International graduate students

Throughout the bargaining process, committee members and the university addressed concerns surrounding the experiences of international graduate students, ranging from healthcare to reimbursement of Visa and SEVIS fees.

In a January university proposal, Provost Gretchen Ritter and Senior Vice President and Chief Student Experience Officer Allen Groves wrote that the university will commit to establishing an internal working group to address international graduate assistant housing.

The group’s goals will be to identify the primary housing challenges facing international students after a comprehensive assessment, create a plan with concrete recommendations to address the issues and at the end of one year, coordinate with SU Labor Relations to share the plan with SGEU.

“It is our hope these efforts will enable a smoother, more seamless transition for all our international graduate students and further support their holistic well-being,” Ritter and Groves wrote.

In the fall 2024 semester, SU will establish an “International Graduate Assistants Healthcare Dependent Premium Support Fund” for the partial support of healthcare premiums for dependents of international graduate assistants through SHIP.

International graduate students must submit proof of SHIP-dependent coverage to the Graduate School in order to be eligible. The university will contribute $100,000 per fiscal year to the fund and will review all applications and determine the amount of support.

Through its Center for International Services, SU will provide fully subsidized access to tax preparation programs for international graduate students’ federal and New York state tax returns. The university will also hold a session during graduate assistant orientation that addresses payroll, social security and tax withholding for international graduate assistants.

SU will also establish an “International Graduate Assistant Economic Hardship Fund,” which may cover SEVIS and Visa fees. The disbursements will be limited to $510 per international graduate assistant.

Family and parental support

According to an article from Jan. 15, assistants earning less than $65,000 in household income per year with a child under the age of 6 are eligible for a childcare subsidy of $1,500 per child. The maximum subsidy per family is $3,000.

In December 2022, the university doubled the childcare subsidy from $500 to $1,000 per child under age 6 for “qualifying graduate students,” and raised the maximum subsidy per family to $2,000. The website does not list the qualifying income for the increased subsidies.

No strike or lockout

SU and the bargaining committee have agreed to a no strike – no lockout provision.

The document from March 6 states that neither the union or any graduate assistant will “directly or indirectly cause, sanction, threaten, instigate, aid, condone, authorize, establish, or participate in any strike.”

Rejected or withdrawn articles

SGEU and the university have rejected or withdrawn four articles: officer compensation, one-time retroactive cost of living bonus, moving and relocation expenses and waiver and entire agreement.

SGEU asked for a monetary bonus of no less than $10,000 per academic year to three SGEU members serving in essential, elected, officer roles for SGEU in lieu of Union Release Time — paid time off for unionized workers to attend union events. This was last updated on Feb. 19.

In November, SGEU proposed a conceptual cost of living bonus to account for “extraordinary inflation experienced during the COVID-era.” The bonus would range from $500 to $1,500 depending on the graduate’s year. It also proposed a one-time “moving expenses” payment that would cover plane tickets, gas money, security deposits or other costs. Neither moved past the conceptual stage.

Information session and voting

SGEU plans to hold an informational meeting to share more details about the tentative bargaining agreement on Friday from 5:30 to 7 p.m. in Huntington Beard Crouse Gifford Auditorium.

Voting for union members will take place on Monday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Tuesday from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Published on March 21, 2024 at 1:01 am

Contact Kendall: kaluther@syr.edu