Stony Brook RA Union

1) Grad Union Contract Comparison

One of our colleagues has prepared a spreadsheet comparing grad union contracts. Please take a look at the data. You can see that in every instance the annual percentage raises, just one of many gains, more than compensates for union dues. Together, we will work to achieve the best contract possible. And remember, we pay no dues until we approve a contract. The contract vote will come after we’ve negotiated a tentative agreement with the RF. When we vote to form a union this Dec. 5th we still pay no dues until we approve a contract that brings in more benefit than we’d pay in dues.

2) Cold Spring Harbor Lab

There is some unfortunate news which also points to why we need a union. Just last month the administration at Cold Spring Harbor Lab announced that they were taking away our colleagues’ health insurance and putting them on Stony Brook University’s undergraduate plan, which is far inferior.. This move will be devastating, especially to those students who have dependents. Some are even expecting children. The reality is that the same thing could happen to us without the protection of a legally binding union contract. Without a union the administration is able to make unilateral changes to our wages and benefits. With a union such changes cannot be made without first negotiating with us.

3) SUNY TAs/GAs and Health Insurance

The reason we have health insurance at all is because of the TA/GA union. In 1994 the first contract for the Graduate Student Employee Union (GSEU) was approved by all TAs/GAs and the major improvement was health insurance. Before the existence of the union, graduate students only health insurance was the undergrad plan. For years before the formation of GSEU the Research Foundation (RF) was saying they didn’t have the money to provide health insurance. But after the TAs/GAs won their health insurance, the RF started providing health insurance as well.

In Solidarity,

The Stony Brook RA Organizing Committee

Grad Union Contract Comparison

• University	Union	Contract	Titles Include	Yearly Raises	Appt Protected	Advance Notificat’n of Dismissal	Child care per sem.	Fee remission/ waiver	Employer Paid Health Insurance Premiums	Dues - % or flat rate
  UC Berkeley	UAW ASEU	2007- 2009	Acting Instructor, Fellow, TA	5.0%	YES	YES	$450	$3500	$849	1.15%
  Cal. State	UAW	2005- 2008	TA, GA	3.5%	YES	YES	Pre-tax	$0	$395	~$100/yr
  Rutgers	AAUP	2007- 2011	RA, (called a GA there), TA	8.0%	NO	NO	None	$737	unknown	0.6%
  Temple	AFT	2002- 2006	TA, GA, RA	2.0%	NO	NO	None	$0	$1776	1.65%
  U. of Florida	UFF GAU	2005- 2008	Graduate RA, TA, GA	3.0%	NO	YES	None	$0	$1570	1%
  U. of Iowa	UE COGS	2007- 2009	TA, RA, Law Research Assistant	1.75%	NO	NO	None	$0	$223.08	~$250/yr
  U. of IL,Urbana- Champaign	AFT GEO	2006- 2009	TA, GA, RA	3.0%	NO	YES	None	$196	$140	2%
  UMASS Boston	UAW	2006- 2008	TA, RA, Administrative Assistant	5%	NO	NO	None	$246	$1052	$0
  U. of MI	AFT GEO	2008- 2010	TA, GA, Graduate Student Staff Assistant	3.0%	NO	YES	$1870	$360	$182.98	1.45%
  U. of OR	AFT GTFF	2008- 2010	Graduate Student with GTF Appointment	4.0%	NO	YES		$388	$818	2.1%
  U. of Rhode Island	AAUP GAU	2007- 2010	GA, Graduate RA	5.0%	NO	YES	None	$311.20	$1045	0.81%
  U. of S. FL	UFF GAU	2004- 2007	Graduate RA, TA, GA	3.0%	NO	YES	None	$0	$600	1%
  U. of WA	UAW	2004- 2007	Regular Part-Time Student Employee	2.5%	NO	YES	None	$0	$228.29	1.15%
  Wayne State	AFT GEOC	2006- 2009	Graduate TA, Graduate Student Assistant	2.6%	YES	YES	None	$439.50		1.6%

  Additional references:

  Contract Wiki @ Coalition of Graduate Employee Unions

• Rutgers (The State University of New Jersey) -
  http://www.mtrumd.org/rutgers_2007-10_contract.html
• University of Florida
  http://www.hr.ufl.edu/benefits/gatorgradcare/#costs
• University of Iowa http://www.uiowa.edu/hr/benefits/health/student/student_rates_07.pdf
• University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
  • http://www.grad.uiuc.edu/gradhandbook
  • http://www.shout.net/~geo/mt-archive/000087.html
  • http://www.shout.net/~geo/mt-archive/000180.html
• University of Massachussets, Boston
  • http://geoumb.org/start/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=12&Itemid=1
  • http://www.umb.edu/admissions/ugrad_catalog/tuition.html
• University of Michigan
  • http://www.umgeo.org/contract
  • http://www.umgeo.org/member-resources/geo-dues-and-service-fee
  • http://www.umich.edu/~benefits/forms/yb2008.pdf
• University of Oregon
  • http://gtff.net
  • http://gtff.net/wiki/upload/7/76/GTFF_CBA_2008-2010.pdf
  • http://registrar.uoregon.edu/common/tuition/tuitionrates.php
• University of Rhode Island
• http://www.uri.edu/union/gau/content_uploads/contract.pdf
• http://www.uri.edu/es/acadinfo/acadyear/tuition.html http://www.uri.edu/union/gau/about.php

 

• Univeristy of South Florida - http://w3.usf.edu/~gau/TentativeAgree.htm
• University of Washington
  • http://www.uaw4121.org/COLLECTIVE%20BARGAINING%20AGREEMENT%2020070508%20For%20Web.php
  • http://www.washington.edu/admin/hr/benefits/insure/gaip/premiums.html
• Wayne State
  • http://www.gradunionwsu.org/pdf/GEOC_Contract_2006_2009.pdf
  • http://sdcl.wayne.edu/RegistrarWeb/Tuition/Resources/T&F%20Regs%20F08.pdf