Stony Brook RA Union

Dear Research Assistants!
Now that RA Union contract with the Research Foundation has been ratified and you are drawing the benefits from it – I hope you all got your 2% salary increase this fall and a part of your university fees waived and  more – it is time to pay the dues (this year the dues are 1.5% of your salary). Every individual RA must authorize the Research Foundation to deduct the dues from their paycheck. And in case you wander if you have to do this then the answer is yes, you are obligated by the National Labor Act to pay union dues.

You can download the form here RA Union card and when  you finish filling it out, please send it to:

Betul Pamuk

Acting Business Agent

Department of Physics and Astronomy
Stony Brook University
Stony Brook, NY 11794-3800

Let’s make sure this is the first of many contracts to come.

All members of the RA Union Bargaining Committee have now officially signed the contract!

We are mailing the signed contract to the Research Foundation.  We look forward to building our organization and implementing the contract!

We are launching a campaign to mobilize RAs to “Like” our new Facebook community page.  Click on the image below to “Like” us on Facebook.

This new Facebook page is a tool to help us communicate with you, the membership, about issues that affect you.  When we post updates on this Facebook page, they will appear on your Facebook news feed and keep you in the loop.

Once you “Like” us on Facebook, ask your friends to “Like” us, too, by clicking on the icons below.

Come celebrate our victory in achieving a first contract.  We’re celebrating this Thurs 4/14 at 7pm at the U. Cafe.  All RAs and our allies are welcome to attend. 

Click here to RSVP.

And click here to “Like” us on facebook

Click the buttons below to spread this information.

(posted 4/7/11)

Our first contract has been ratified with 78% of voters voting “yes.”  However, this is only the beginning.  We are very excited to enter into the next phase of developing out union.

Next steps with building the union:

As we solidify our organization into an even stronger force to advance our interests, we need your participation now more than ever.  Please get involved and informed by 1.) coming to our meetings and events, 2.) “Liking” us on facebook by clicking here, 3.) reading the emails we send you, and 4.) regularly checking this website.

We need to elect a Business Agent and a Chief Steward.  These are paid leadership positions.  We also need to elect Division Coordinators for all the departments that don’t have them (BME, AMS, Psychology, SoMAS, Neurobiology).  If you are interested in hearing more about any of these positions, email us at raunion@sbraunion.org.

Next steps with implementing the contract:

We will contact the Research Foundation to let them know we’ve ratified the contract.  Copies of the contract will be printed for review, and then the Research Foundation and the RAs on the RA Union Bargaining Committee have to sign it.  After that, we will figure out a date to implement the contract.  We’ll probably be implementing it in another month or two.  We’ll keep you posted.

Click here to “Like” us on facebook

Click the buttons below to spread this information.

If you haven’t voted yet, this will be your last chance:

Wed 4/6 12pm-1pm Wang 201

Come, listen to the presentations, and vote on our contract.  Click here to download the contract.

Please RSVP on facebook here.

Help spread the word by downloading the flyer on the left and posting it up in your department.  Spread this info by clicking the icons below for facebook, twitter, and email.

By popular demand, we are holding one extra voting session on Wednesday, April 6th.  The two remaining sessions are:

Mon 3/28 6-8pm SAC 302

Wed 4/6 12pm-1pm Wang 201

Come, listen to the presentations, and vote on our contract.

Help spread the word by downloading the flyer on the left and posting it up in your department.

Click here to download the Q and A below.

Q:  Who are we and what are we doing here today?

A: We are the union of Research Assistants and we’re here today to protest Stony Brook University administration’s proposal to increase to our Technology Fee.  The Technology Fee pays for things we don’t use.  This SINC site is a symbolic example.  Any technology that we use at this University is necessary for us to do our job.  Just as it would not be right to charge employees of Google an “Internet Fee,” RAs should not be charged a Technology Fee.  Charging us a fee to do our work is unjust and unjustifiable.

Q:  I really need to print up stuff for class.  How can I do that?

A: If you really need to print something, there are a many other SINC sites on campus.  To name just a few, you can go to Chemistry rooms 432, 434, Old Engineering Room 2116, the Central reading room in this Library, Student Union room 080, or Harriman room 318.  Alternately, you can tell your professor that you couldn’t print your homework because this SINC site was jammed up by people protesting fee increases.  Feel free to use this flyer as evidence of the protest.

Q:  What can I do to support you?

A: The administration has asked for feedback on its proposal to raise our fees, so let’s let them have it!  You can do the following:

1.)  Contact Stony Brook President Samuel Stanley at samuel.stanley@stonybrook.edu and tell him not to increase the Technology Fee for graduate student employees.

2.)  Contact the administrator most closely tied with the implementation of the Technology Fee at graham.glynn@stonybrook.edu and tell him the same thing.

3.)  Leave a message here: www.asa.stonybrook.edu/bursar/broad-based-fees-feedback

At our last bargaining session, the Research Foundation gave us its final offer for a first union contract.  We wanted to win more, but this is a solid improvement to the status quo.  We recommend that our members vote “yes” for this 3 year contract because:

1.)  There is a guaranteed two percent raise in the first year (unless you have received a raise since last June) and there’s a chance we can get more in the third year.

2.)  The President of the Union, George Bloom, has agreed to phase in the union dues.  The first year we would contribute 1.5% in dues, the second year 1.75%, and the third year and subsequent years dues would be 2%.  Because the union represents all of us, and all of us benefit from that representation, all of us are required to contribute to the cost.

3.)  We won huge improvements to the dental insurance.  Insurance used to only cover up to $500, but now it will cover up to $1,000.  It used to not cover things like root canals, but now it will cover 75% of them.  We also won improvements to the vision plan.  We now have access to better frames and lenses.  These improvements have already gone into effect, and by voting “yes,” we will have resources to defend these improvements.

4.)  By voting yes, we will solidify our organization and thereby see more improvements in the future.

Click here to download the contract