When we vote to form our union, Pitt is legally required to negotiate over pay and benefits. Currently, no such obligation exists. The unionized graduate workers at Temple University in Philadelphia won a minimum 4% stipend each academic year. The graduate workers union at the University of Michigan successfully negotiated to allow graduate workers to choose between 8 different health insurance plans, most of which are fully paid for by the administration, including family coverage. At Pitt, graduate workers pay a full monthly premium for dependents. Unionized graduate workers at Brown bargained for a 75% subsidy for dependents’ health and dental coverage.

Unionized graduate workers at Tufts cannot be “compelled or pressured” to work more than 20 hours each week. This language allows graduate workers to work more than 20 hours if they wish, but also establishes a review procedure if a worker feels their workload is too high and is inconsistent with work guidelines. If the review finds the graduate worker is working more than required, the administration will pay for the extra work done on a pro rata basis to guarantee that graduate workers are fairly compensated for extra work. Graduate worker unions have also made a lot of advances for leave language. Graduate workers at the University of Connecticut working the entire academic year are eligible for 4 weeks (20 business days) off from expected duties “with no reduction in pay or benefits.”

As a direct result of union bargaining, graduate workers at Harvard have gained substantial protections and resources for international students. Harvard now maintains extensive legal resources for international students including a list of attorneys and agencies for referral, and who do pro-bono work. They bring immigration attorneys to campus to discuss H visas and green cards. Harvard also created an International Workers Assistance fund that international students can access for legal reimbursements.

In the City University of New York (CUNY) system, unionized graduate workers included a retrenchment clause, which outlines a mechanism for notification and impact of budget cuts to graduate departments. In their most recent union contract, graduate workers at Brown University included a clause that protects graduate workers against the elimination of their appointments. If their appointment is eliminated, the university pays “fifty percent of the difference.” This clause helps alleviate the harm done by sudden cancellation of appointments.

At the University of Wisconsin at Madison graduate workers have the option to resolve disputes with managers informally, but if they wish to file a grievance, there is a three-step procedure. The first step is to seek to solve the issue at the department level. If the issue is not settled to the graduate worker’s satisfaction, the union steward (a coworker trained on union rights) can then take it to the dean of the college. If the grievance remains unsettled, it can then go to the chancellor. If the issue remains unresolved after exhausting this process, a neutral arbitrator will be agreed upon by both sides to make a final and binding decision to solve the issue. This sort of language is common in many contracts and protects against retaliation.

Because of their collectively bargained contract, union graduate workers at the University of Massachusetts - Lowell have a right to refuse work due to hazardous conditions. Tufts University graduate workers negotiated an anonymous workplace safety reporting system. For departments that employ lab workers, those departments must meet with graduate workers at least once per term to discuss lab/workplace safety.

At the University of Connecticut, the graduate workers’ union won protection from discrimination on the basis of “membership or non-membership in any labor union or on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, religious creed, age, sex (including gender, pregnancy, child-birth, medical conditions related to pregnancy and childbirth, breastfeeding, and medical conditions related to breastfeeding), marital status, national origin, citizenship, ancestry, sexual orientation, genetic information, physical or mental disabilities (including learning disabilities, intellectual disabilities, past/present history of a mental disorder), veteran status, prior conviction of a crime, workplace hazards to reproductive systems, gender identity or expression, political activity and/or union activity, or membership in other protected classes set forth in state or federal law.”

They also won explicit protections against sexual harassment.

At Brown University, unionized graduate workers are eligible for a childcare subsidy of $5,000 per year, up to a maximum of $15,000 per household. In an instance where both parents are graduate workers, both parents are allowed to utilize parental relief. At the University of Washington, unionized graduate workers won $900 per quarter for qualifying childcare expenses.

Graduate workers won a policy through their union that the University of Connecticut must create and maintain gender transition guidelines. Harvard graduate workers included a clause in their union contract that protects and affirms the rights of graduate workers to “discuss their own sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression openly, or to keep that information private.” The University of Michigan Graduate Employee Organization (GEO) has expanded coverage of gender affirming healthcare in their bargaining. 

Graduate workers at the University of Connecticut are guaranteed the same intellectual property rights and obligations as other university employees when working as a graduate researcher.

The unionized graduate workers at the University of Michigan are campaigning for an “unarmed non-police response” which treats “policing as a public health, and workplace safety issue.”