GAU Bargaining Blog: Update #9
Negotiations have resumed for the Spring semester. Here’s the run-down:
First, we’ve finally TAed the non-discrimination language. This was a critical point for us during this negotiation cycle - to make contract language more inclusive and help to secure better protections to make URI a safer, more inclusive work environment for graduate students.
And we have made progress on having Vision insurance! The representatives from URI have tentatively agreed to provide Vision Coverage to be added to the GA insurance package. The specific details of what this will cover (if/how it will cover the cost of exams, glasses, contacts, etc.) must still be considered and outlined. The catch is, this Vision Coverage would not take effect until September 2024. In other words, this means that the first two full years of our three-year contract will not be covered with Vision Insurance for Graduate Students.
Since our last update to the Bargaining Blog, the URI reps have offered a new proposal for wages for GAs at URI. When the initial proposal was communicated, the wage increase would not have been sufficient to cover the increased cost of graduate student fees, particularly for Level 1 and Level 2 graduate students. The new proposal indicates a slight increase from the initial offer.
NOW:
Level 1: $20,000
Level 2: $20,225
Level 3: $20,500
INITIAL PROPOSAL:
Level 1: $20,600
Level 2: $20,835
Level 3: $21,115
CURRENT PROPOSAL:
Level 1: $20,750
Level 2: $21,500
Level 3: $22,500
This is somewhat higher than the initial wage increase that was proposed. And this proposal shows a wage increase that, on average, nearly covers the proposed increase in graduate student fees.
But is this wage increase enough to ease the burden of the increased cost of student fees and the increased cost of living in Rhode Island in a post-pandemic climate? Does this proposed increase in wages indicate that the University values the education, expertise, and labor of graduate students, and is committed to being a competitive employer for graduate students coming to the University of Rhode Island?
We want to know what our members think before we return to the table with the URI representatives. Come meet with us, on Thursday, January 26, 2023, at 5pm in the Anchor Room in the Higgins Welcome Center. You can also access the meeting online, via Zoom. Check your email for the link! We’ll have a chance to meet, go over the current proposals and answer questions about the proposals we’ve shared, where negotiations stand, and what our GAs can do to help move negotiations toward our shared goals.
In the meantime, keep writing to URI representatives. Talk to your fellow grad students AND to your faculty! Our graduate programs and their faculty have a stake in this too: if URI is not a competitive university for wages – among other things – our graduate programs, and ultimately the University itself will suffer.
And please engage with us online. Email GAU with your concerns at uri.gau@gmail.com. We want to hear from our membership what issues matter and what experiences you have had at URI as a GA, good or bad. And make sure to follow and connect with us on social media. Share about your own experiences as a graduate student at URI using the hashtags #ramsneedraises, #urigau, #uricontract2022 and #urigaucontractnegotiations.
Folks, the powers-that-be tend to underestimate and undervalue us. Our position at the university can be seen as tenuous and inconsequential. But WE ARE ESSENTIAL to the function of the University as an educational institution. Our labor, whether that is working in a lab, teaching an undergraduate course, TAing for faculty, or contributing to the scholarship and professional output of the university, is VITAL to the continued growth and success of the University. We work hard for the University; let’s work together to make sure that the University also works for us.
See you soon: Thursday, Jan. 26th, 5pm, Anchor Room, Welcome Center or online via Zoom!
Yours in solidarity,
Graduate Assistants United