Graduate workers’ unions are winning big across the country! Learn what’s possible if we unionize WashU:
Increased wages
Yale’s recent contract will raise graduate worker’s raises 15.4% to 19.2% in the spring of 2024, to a minimum of $48,330.
USC’s contract boosts the minimum salary 12%, from $35,700 to $40,000.
Harvard’s GSA has won 10% raises, giving graduate workers a minimum salary of $50,000.
Workers at Columbia, MIT, and many others have also won substantial raises through their union contracts.
Better healthcare and childcare
Columbia’s student workers created a healthcare-support fund to expand to healthcare reimbursements for workers and their dependents.
UW’s contract lowered deductibles, ensured gender-affirming care, and improved coverage for mental health services.
Yale’s contract includes a comprehensive dental plan with a $0 deductible and 100% coverage for routine dental care.
UC’s contract increased childcare subsidies by 27% and improved healthcare coverage for dependents.
Paid leave and disability justice
After unionizing, UC student workers won paid parental, medical, and disability leave.
NYU’s contract also guarantees paid medical leave.
UC, MIT, NYU, and Harvard contracts all encode a right to reasonable accommodations for disabled graduate student workers. Workers at these institutions can enforce their right to an accessible workplace through the union grievance process.
Protection for international students
USC’s contract created a legal fund for international student workers, allows for reimbursement of fees related to F-1 and J-1 visas, and provides time off to attend visa and immigration proceedings.
UC’s contract guarantees leave for immigration-related issues.
In their contract, MIT student workers won $1,200 reimbursements for visa-related costs.
At Yale, the union contract guarantees that international student workers will receive help from the university if they are denied entry into the country. It also protects the privacy of student workers and prevents the university from allowing ICE into non-public spaces.
Protection from discrimination & harassment
Reporting harassment, abuse, or discrimination in a university setting can be confusing and retraumatizing. Universities sometimes fail to follow their own policies, and at WashU, confidence in HR is low.
With a union, student workers facing discrimination and abuse don’t have to contend with this bureaucracy alone - most graduate worker contracts ensure that student workers get union support when they report harassment or discrimination, ensure that complaints are addressed in an enforceable timeline, and allow for resolution by a neutral third-party, which ensures that administration doesn’t get the final say.
At UConn and UC, student workers have reported that they were able to resolve harassment cases through their union after their universities failed to protect them.
What is important to you?
It’s your union.
If you could change something about your working conditions, what would it be? Will you join us now to make that future a reality?