Almost a year after they voted to unionize, the Syracuse University Graduate Employees United Union ratified its first Collective Bargaining Agreement. The vote was 92% in favor.
Highlights of the contract include a median 24% stipend increase for next year, 80% subsidized health insurance and 100% subsidized preventative dental care.
Hayden Courtney, a teaching assistant in the sociology department and member of the bargaining committee for Syracuse Graduate Employees United, said the contract also provides an emergency fund for international students and their families and establishes an arbitration and grievance process.
"There's so much power that we get from being more institutionalized here and being able to create like a lot of pathways for communicating out that people have rights, being able to represent folks in a meaningful way and just giving a lot of power that folks didn't have previously," Courtney said. "Now they have a lot more workplace power in order to organize under and to protect themselves."
Gretchen Ritter, Syracuse University’s vice chancellor, provost and chief academic officer, commented on the first contract.
"Following a thoughtful, constructive and collaborative process, the University is grateful to have reached an agreement for an inaugural contract with Syracuse Graduate Employees United (SGEU)," Ritter said. "Over the last seven months, the University and the Union’s bargaining committees have worked in good faith to reach a contract that provides increased compensation, enhanced health care coverage and expanded academic support and protection for graduate assistants. We thank both committees for their thoughtful and productive engagement and look forward to our continued partnership with SGEU in the years ahead."
