BECOME A MEMBER!

UF WORKS BECAUSE WE DO!

Graduate assistants at the University of Florida have been unionized since 1972. If you are a teaching assistant or a research assistant at UF, Graduate Assistants United is your voice on campus! Together, we use our collective power to improve the lives of graduate assistants. 

GAU Protects Your Rights

BARGAINING

Your union has the legal right to directly negotiate the terms of the employing contract for all graduate assistants, the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). Through these negotiations, your union has won for you a CBA that includes: 

• Guaranteed minimum stipend all departments must meet or exceed in their letters of offer 
• Low premium ($12/month), high quality health insurance 
• 8 weeks of paid family/medical leave 
• Fee relief (saving GAs ~$875/year in fees)
• Tuition waiver
• Workload limitations 
• Academic freedom protection 
• Protections for GAs from working conditions unsafe for a GA's physical or mental health

You can read our entire CBA here. Bargaining sessions are open to the public and occur in a hybrid format on Zoom and in-person. Notices for bargaining sessions come straight to your email, so be sure to mark emails from us as important so they do not end up in your spam folder. Catch up with the latest from our bargaining team at our bargaining blog. 

Watch Recordings of Past Bargaining Sessions:

CONTRACT ENFORCEMENT

No one ever imagines unexpected changes will happen to their employment, but they do, and our union is here to help members through this stressful time. For members, GAU is able to enforce the terms of the contract through the grievance process. If you are a member and the terms of your employment change in a way that violates the CBA or your letter of offer, GAU has an escalation ladder we will follow until we find a solution fair to you:

1. Departmental meeting where you, your supervisors, and the union attempt to informally resolve the issue. Most grievances are resolved at this step. 
2. If the issue cannot be solved informally, GAU will send the grievance to the UF Administrative Chief Bargainer, who will evaluate the situation for contract violation and suggest solutions if one is found.
3. If the UF Administrative Chief Bargainer rules against GAU, GAU will push the grievance to arbitration, where a third party evaluates the situation for contract violation and suggests solutions if one is found. 

Additionally, GAU will represent any member in any meeting they are called into with their department as part of union members' Weingarten Rights. The union has your back! 

GAU Builds Community

EVENTS

GAU hosts a variety of events each month to bring the graduate community together and connect workers across departments. Last year's events include: 

• Catered membership socials 
• Weekly organizing meetings to connect with other members and build our collective power
• Hardship Fundraiser: Battle of the Bands event to fundraise for our Hardship Fund, a small grant program by the union supporting GAU members experiencing extreme circumstances
• Protests and rallies on campus as a direct action strategy to support our organizing goals 
• Speaking engagements with scholarly experts in a wide variety of topics, including mental health, syndicalism, and contemporary Florida social politics
• Block Party with live music and water activities at Maguire Village to oppose the closing of Maguire and University Village South, two affordable graduate family housing communities on campus 
• Happy hours at local breweries to unwind  

RESOURCES

GAU is passionate about expanding resources to graduate assistants. In the past year we have advocated for and achieved: 

• Assistive equipment rental programs for disabled students 
• Elimination of student government fees for graduate assistants (resolution passed, awaiting SG budget approval)
• Graduate student position on Rate-Setting Committee for planned new off-campus graduate family housing community
• Local discounts for union members 

We continue to advocate for: 

• Final semester funding from the Graduate School 
• Graduate assistant position on the Board of Trustees 
• Expansion of free dental visits from one to two per year at Faculty Dental Practice 
• Expanded housing options for RECs 
• Graduate Student Appreciation Week activities for GAs at RECs

NEWS & ANNOUNCEMENTS

---

Safe for Another Year!

Thanks to your help and the tireless work of our amazing organizing team, GAU will remain a certified labor union for at least one more year! This means your employing contract, the Collective Bargaining Agreement, will remain in place and enforceable at least until April 2025. We collected over 2000 Showing of Interest cards from UF graduate assistants who understand the importance and value of GAU, which have been sent off to the Florida Public Employee Relations Commission, the state of Florida agency that certifies public sector unions. This will trigger a union election, where UF GAs will vote to keep GAU as their representative entity in bargaining over our contract. Be on the lookout for forthcoming union election information! 
Saving our union each year through elections is not a sustainable solution. For your union to be saved permanently, become a member today!

---

Our Union is Under Attack!

What is SB 256?

Because we are effective, the Florida legislature is attacking us with union-busting legislation passed this Spring, senate bill 256. This bill requires public sector unions in Florida (except for police, fire, and correctional officer unions) to reach 60% membership or be decertified. Additionally, this bill makes payroll dues deduction illegal. This means we need 60% of almost 4400 GAs to join the union as a member through our new dues collection system called eDues, or we will be decertified, and everything we have won in our contract will be lost. 

What do we stand to lose if we are decertified?

​We have been a unionized workforce for over 50 years. Since 1972, GAU has been our certified labor union, giving us the right to directly negotiate our employing contract (known as the Collective Bargaining Agreement) with UF. Through this, we have made massive strides in improving the lives of graduate assistants. We have increased the minimum stipend almost $10,000 in the last decade, negotiated yearly raises, and saved you over $700 in fees every year. GAU is the reason you have a low premium ($12/month), no deductible healthcare plan. We are also the reason you have 8 weeks of paid family and medical leave. We have filed hundreds if not thousands of grievances in our lifetime, protecting GAs treated unfairly. We have been the voice for Graduate Family Housing, fighting against closures of affordable, on-campus housing and advocating for expansion of affordable housing options at RECs. 

All of the benefits of our Collective Bargaining Agreement were not willingly given to us by UF. They were fought for by our union. If we lose our union, UF would not have to abide by our contract, and could, for example: 

• Take away your healthcare 
• Forego annual raises or a guaranteed minimum stipend 
• Charge you the full cost of fees 
• Charge tuition 

What can I do to help?

Become a member today! Dues are only 1% of each of your paychecks, deducted biweekly on pay day. For most GAs, that's less than $10/paycheck. Considering we just won a 3% raise and $2000 increase to the minimum stipend, the benefits of having a union far outweigh the cost. In addition to helping save our union, as a member you receive full contract enforcement services should something unexpected happen with your employment, as well as access to local and national discounts and benefits through our parent unions, and invites to our members-only socials. 
​
Join our Discord server to receive the most current information on the state of our union, union events, open leadership positions, and current issues at UF. Our Discord server is also the best place to get in contact with GAU leadership and connect with other GAs in your department! Please email us to receive your link!

With Love Since 1972

Graduate Employees Are The Real Foundation of The Gator Nation