Hi Unit Members!
We recently made a switch to our newsletter. There will still be weekly article updates for bargaining in this blog! The rest of the newsletter will be sent out monthly. PLEASE attend the weekly bargaining sessions - even if you cannot listen to most or all of the session, increased attendance on zoom and in person is invaluable to our efforts to reach these goals. Living wage proposal MUCH lower than the total cost of UNPAID labor GAU began the bargaining session with an astounding report on GAs wages and the cost of living. A survey of a significant portion of the GA population (over 400 people) showed that 45% were unable to cover monthly expenses on their salary, 20% work a second job, 81% are unable to save for an emergency and 28% experience food insecurity! The causes of these major problems are quite apparent. The cost of living soars due to rent increases, and major inflation. In fact, around 82% of GAs pay more than ⅓ of their income on rent. GAs work an average of 31.5 hours a week despite being paid for a mere 20 (in most cases). Our bargaining team ran the numbers and came up with an astounding figure. The total value for UNPAID GA labor is 75 million whereas our reasonable ask for a living wage for our valuable labor would only cost 48 million! GAU gave a compelling presentation to the UF bargaining team, and ended with testimonials from GAs about how their low stipend negatively impacts their wellbeing. This lead into a powerful proposal for a living wage of $41,675 a year. While the stipend is agreed on in article 10, our argument for a living wage is an argument that also rests on article 7 which deals with workload and defining what UF "counts" when determining paid labor. Updates by article: Article 10 - Stipends -GAU starts the session with a strong proposal for an increase in stipend to $41,675 a year and achieve a living wage for GAs. -The proposal includes merit raises as 5.6% of the GA salary pool and a lump sum raise of $2,300 for 12 month GAs and 1725 for 9 month GAs every year. Article 7 - Workload -GAU proposed several changes including -The addition of language to distinguish between academic and GA work. So that grievances in cases where an RA is overworked will be prosecutable. - Requiring UF to offer avenues if GAs are working more than their appointed FTE. This means options such as additional pay, reduction in actual FTE, increase in paid FTE, etc. -Departments must also review workload expectations and report them every year -Lastly, departments are encouraged to make a clear distinction between paid work and academic work. In the case that the department makes no distinction the default is proposed to be 20 hours with an additional 3 hours multiplied by the number of research credit hours they are enrolled in. Article 4 - Appointments, reappointments, termination -GAU discussed changes that our team made since UF last proposed. -Language was added back in to explain the purpose of the article and clarify the term through which a letter of offer is valid. -Added language to encourage the university to offer 12 month contracts whenever possible. -Added a procedure for offering a personal improvement plan (PIP) and notice to a GA if the department is considering not renewing a contract based on performance. -GAU and UF also discussed finding a solution so that 9 month GAs can be offered summer employment but to prevent departments from using these appointments to not pay the students tuition and/or not offer a 12 month appointment. Article 5 - Employee Performance Evaluations -GAU added language to this article in order to create a default evaluation result in the event that no evaluation occurs. They also clarified that evaluations must state explicitly what the result of the evaluation is. -GAU also added a requirement that employees must be offered a PIP if given an unsatisfactory evaluation and a schedule of improvements. Article 21 - Discipline -UF added what information must be included in notification of an investigation -UF agrees to drop a clause that will protect those who use a bathroom that does not match their birth sex. Article 2X (UF proposed article) - Joint training -UF proposed a new article that would mandate both bargaining teams to attend a joint training every 3 years, before beginning the full book bargaining process. The training is a service offered by the state. Article 28 - University of Florida Regulations -UF and GAU bargaining teams discussed the new regulations that were added. Several subsections were crossed out, this seems to create more strange situations but does not account for them in the regulations. GAU will discuss before moving forward. Article 16 - Use of Facilities (GAU Rights) -UF returned GAU’s previous proposal and attempted to eliminate GAU’s released time (RT) positions for GA’s entirely. -UF also removed GAU’s proposed parking pass addition to the article Upcoming Events
2/21 Wednesday - Organizing Meeting 5-7pm at Carr Hall 611 and Zoom 2/22 Thursday - Bargaining session 1-3pm at Reitz G310 and ZOOM 2/24 Saturday - OPEN Healthcare Committee Meeting on Discord Bargaining Updates GAs deserve a 42k living wage The GAU bargaining team is just getting started on Article 7 (workload) and has already made some major headway. GAU has always held strong in our position that GAs provide far more value to UF than a true “part time” employee (clip) and deserve a living wage, which is currently 42k for Gainesville residents (MIT calculator) due to drastic rent increases and inflation. These past couple of bargaining sessions have left UF a bit tongue tied as they struggle to respond to our arguments that with 32% of GAs stating that they are overworked on a weekly basis and many working well over 40hrs a week - GAs are not properly compensated for their efforts. Most GAs feel they have no choice but to work overtime, with everything that’s unpaid being considered “academic development” but GAU refuses to back down on such a blatant violation of labor rights. Furthermore the sheer number of hours GAs put into their jobs and research make the prospect of a second job nearly impossible for most, and is not even an option for the large percentage of international GAs in our unit. GAU is confident on this article and feels it is starting from a better position in comparison to last year. Updates by Article: Article 5 (Employee Evaluations) Only contention is creating the right that we get at least one PIP to improve after a negative evaluation, this goes in hand with Article 4. Article 8 (Leave) UF seemed amendable to changing sister/brother to sibling and his/her to their in this article as long as it stays consistent across the CBA. They also conceded to the previously mentioned first-semester births/adoption leave exception. They also agreed to GAU proposed changes to 8.4 - unpaid leave, ensuring 8 weeks at a time and agreed to the proposed notification timeline. Check back next week for updates on the other topics and articles that were discussed this past session: Article 20 (Other Employee Rights), Article 21 (Discipline), Article 22 (Grievance), Article 16 (UFF-GAU Rights) and Housing. Organizing updates Card campaign success! We reached our card goal, first crisis averted! In October we started a campaign to get 1,776 showing of interest cards signed (40% of all UF GA’s). Without these cards and without 60% GAU membership we would be decertified by the end of the semester. Thank you to all 1,864 GAs who signed a card. You are the reason we have another year and the reason we will get to 60% membership by March 2025! Remember that the fight has only just begun. We need everyone’s help to reach our goal and stop decertification. Your union will spend the next year protecting your labor rights, bargaining for better working conditions, pay and benefits and continuing to build the strongest community UF has ever seen (and it includes every single one of you). Keep an eye out for a post-Blitz Happy Hour social - COMING SOON Healthcare Updates List of mental healthcare providers GAU has recently received and posted a list of mental healthcare providers in the Gainesville area that take GatorGradCare insurance. This list is from July 2022 but should be mostly accurate. See the healthcare section of ufgau.org for more GGC information! What’s missing from GatorGradCare?Our healthcare committee is holding an open meeting this weekend and all are welcome to share their ideas–you don’t have to already be on the committee! Join us on Saturday, February 24, at 2:00pm on the committee voice channel in discord, you can access the committee channel by assigning yourself to healthcare under #roles. If you need help joining, just ask in discord! Compensation for GGC Screening With a quick screening and short survey for GatorGradCare, you will get a $50 amazon gift card. Last day to participate is Thursday, 2/22. Check your email for this opportunity. Connect With Us Email us: organizing@ufgau.org Discord: join Visit our office hours: 8:30-11:30 Mon,Wed,Thurs and 12:45-2:45 Tues (Yon Hall Rm 224) Find us at a tabling event: NONE THIS WEEK It’s BLITZ week! 2/12 Monday - 2/16 Friday - Tabling at Newell Hall with Valentines 10am-5pm -> volunteers all over campus! Talk with us! 2/14 Wednesday - Tabling at Sun Terrace 10am-5pm NO ORGANIZING MEETING 2/15 Thursday - Bargaining Session (Reitz 3320 or ZOOM) 1pm-3pm 2/16 Friday - Tabling at PHHP 10am-5pm GAU LOVES new members Valentines day is often cluttered with half-hearted, overly commercialized expressions of love. But there is nothing half-hearted about joining your labor union. We are so happy to welcome those who have recently become members and we encourage you to spread the word about our efforts, successes and the benefits of becoming a member. Just this past week our bargaining team engaged in a contentious debate about what UF considers our workload to be, and I am sure it’s no surprise that UF vastly undervalues the labor of their over 4,400 GAs. This is exactly why we need to continue to grow and fight for better working conditions! Are there risks to joining? NO! If you have friends that are concerned about joining the GAU because they fear legal repercussions or issues from the university please share with them that we are a legal entity! This means that the university must bargain with us in “good faith” and uphold our collective bargaining agreement which is what our bargaining team does almost every week! It also means that your employer cannot threaten employees with unemployment for joining the union, and they cannot shut down any efforts by employees to improve their working conditions. This comes from the National Labor Rights Act and extends to discussing working conditions with co-workers and over social media! So share our instagram clips! Current legislature in Florida prevent UFF (and therefore GAU) from removing dues directly from one’s paycheck. While this does add an extra step to joining as a member. It also means that the University is now no longer linked to our dues payment system and therefore has no access to the information on who is and is not a GAU member. Now tell them to watch last week’s bargaining session (below) if they need more convincing! Bargaining Updates from Thursday Feb 8th See YouTube for Full Recording UF equates working our 20 (contractually-obligated) hours to a strike On Feb 8th, in our latest bargaining session - UF GAU attempted to codify a defined distinction between paid work research assistants do for the university, and the unpaid research we do for our academic development. The blurring of these lines greatly benefits UF, in that it makes it easier to overwork research assistants. Last year, UF stated we do not deserve a living wage because we only work 20 hours per week. Furthermore, they said if GAs are working more than 20 hours per week, they would be a grievable contract violation. Now that we are attempting to define overwork so that those grievances are actually winnable, UF actually called working within our 20 contractually obligated hours an illegal strike. UF is so dependent on unpaid excess work from GAs, it has to resort to making illegitimate claims to protect that status quo. Furthermore, our grievance team asked UF to communicate with all departments to disseminate the information that all GA’s that are not under other circumstances (restrictions still apply to international students) are now able to have outside work.They also requested data on the distribution of last semester’s merit raises, which should be provided soon. Updates by Article: Article 22 (Grievances) -The main changes we proposed allowed for extended times for the grievance process - allowing for 15 day extensions at each stage; extending retroactive pay from 45 days to 120; clarifying that once there is a final arbitration, there is a 7 day window to enact any remedies from the case -Our team also proposed a new process so we can offer names to fill out the board should there be vacancies Article 21 (Discipline) The grievance team proposed a few minor changes and clarifications after UF’s previous proposal -Last time, UF removed a statement that just cause for discipline didn’t need to “directly affect the interests of the University” -> GAU added this back in because it seems like a potential issue for GAs (e.g., student code of conduct and social media) -> UF claims they removed this because they don’t want to have to prove this - GAU asked UF to exhaustively list the steps of progressive discipline that may be enacted for transparency - In GAU’s first time proposing this article in full book, we included a new protection for students disciplined for using a gendered bathroom that doesn’t match with their birth sex -In UF’s last counterproposal, they removed this, saying it sets a precedent for “prescribing” a punishment for a certain issue -> In this counterproposal, we put this protection back in, specifying that they can only discipline with a written reprimand on the first offense which they still didn’t seem receptive to -> GAU asked them to come back with an alternative they may be more open to Article 7 (Workload) The main change offered to this article is that we included a way to address excessive workload, by combining the hourly equivalent of your FTE and factoring in real hours from any relevant research / teaching credits -> UF team insisted this would never be okay because it brings in “academic” requirements into the “employee” contract *UF insisted for RAs which have overlapping research with their PIs, this would be an academic issue and they would need to go through the academic grievance / complaint route (starting with their advisor, moving up through the assistant dean / dean / OMBUDS) Pre-Blitz Social Our first social of the semester was a resounding success! We had a full room of dedicated members who came to eat good food and learn about our organizing success, BLITZ 2.0 and our revamped discord. We also gave tutorials on our organizing tools and gathered much needed support from our amazing community of members for this week’s campus-wide canvasing event. We also Hand-Printed custom t-shirts that you may see around campus in the coming weeks. If you couldn’t make it to the social or sign-up for a blitz shift you can always help by encouraging your cohort, friends, lab mates, etc. to be open to conversations with our volunteers this week and share your opinion about the importance of our labor union! We are excited to see what this week brings. Stop by and grab a GAU valentine! Even if you can’t help out with this week’s BLITZ we would love to see you at our table! We printed custom GAU valentines that will be at our table all week. If every member shared the love and convinced a non-member to join we would make our 60% membership goal in no time! (Keep in mind we have over 20% membership right now!) Can you spread the love and convince 1 PERSON to join GAU this week? Do you have a friend that’s simply been forgetting to finish the sign up? Every new member adds to our collective power and gets us one step closer to our goal. You saw what UF thinks of our hard work! GatorGradCare Wellness Screenings Check your email and schedule your GatorWell screening! With a quick screening and short survey you will get a $50 amazon gift card. Take advantage of this benefit and come see us while you're at it. We will have a table at each screening check-in location. Sign a card if you haven't already or come chat with us about our union. Connect With Us Email us: organizing@ufgau.org DISCORD: link Join our office hours: 8:30-11:30 Mon,Wed,Thurs and 12:45-2:45 Tues (Yon Hall Rm 224) Find us at a tabling event: 2/12-2/16 10am-5pm Newell Hall, 2/14 10am-5pm at Sun Terrace and 2/16 10am-5pm PHHP Upcoming Events 2/5 Monday - Tabling at Plaza of the Americas 10am-2pm 2/6 Tuesday - Tabling at IFAS Millhopper (Fisheries) 1pm-5pm BLITZ Kickoff Social - Rhines Hall Rm 125 5pm-7pm 2/7 Wednesday- Tabling at Plaza of the Americas 10am-2pm - Organizing Meeting 5-7pm Zoom 2/8 Thursday - Tabling at Veterinary Medicine 1pm-5pm - Bargaining session 1-3pm at Reitz G320 and Zoom NEXT WEEK: 2/12-16 - BLITZ (sign up here) GAU LOVES your support We are kicking off February with a pre-BLITZ social this upcoming Tuesday. We are excited to come together as a community, show solidarity and eat delicious food. All members are welcome to join. We will be demonstrating our organizing tools, discord revamp and printing custom T-shirts! (Please bring a white T-shirt and spread the word)! Our blitz is quickly approaching and next week we hope you will join us as we canvas campus to save our union. Do you have 2 hours to spare next week? More? Even if you just learned about our union, we can use your help! GAU will give you all the tools you need (and a more experienced buddy) to join in on the fun. SIGN UP Bargaining Updates from Thursday Feb 1st See YouTube for Full Recording Article 5 - Employee Performance Evaluations
Article 8 - Leaves of Absence
Article 20 - Other Employee Rights
Graduate Housing - Maguire Village/UVS (help and information needed) The McNair Bostick Memorial wooden bench swing is missing! Despite several attempts to garner more information, it is still unclear if the bench was stolen or possibly thrown out or sold by UF housing. This is incredibly disrespectful to the graduate student community and his family. Furthermore:
We need more information about the damage and intentional changes happening to the area. We also need advocacy from graduate students who these issues affect! Student government refused to hear the complaint that votes were not counted and that there is no graduate housing senator. Additionally, SG has no list of who lives in graduate housing, and this perpetuates the problem of ballots not being properly issued. More faces and voices advocating for graduate housing rights will mean more accountability for UF. If you have any information, or want to be involved in any way please email: SaveUFGradHousing@gmail.com or join our discord and add the housing role to gain access to the housing committee channel and join in the conversation. Organizing Updates Nearly there, and just in time for BLITZ! Our current card count is 1465 so we only need 311 more to reach our goal of 40% (1776). We have had cards mailed in from all over the state and personally collected and delivered by GA volunteers and stewards in nearly every department. Of course this is only the beginning of our fight to save our union. This will give us another year (until March 2025) to get to the 60% membership benchmark that we need to keep our union’s certification. We are just over 30% membership currently after getting set back to 0% less than 1 year ago. To get to 60% in time we would need to gain ~30 members every week.Thats a big task but, every conversation helps! Talk to your fellow GA’s and let them know why YOU don’t want to lose GAU. Florida will continue to pass down legislation that puts members of our community at risk, our labor union is so vital to protecting everyone in our community from injustice. Remind your friends that the benefits of joining far outweigh the cost and the deadline is NOW! GatorGradCare Wellness Screenings - Get a free $50 gift card! Check your email and schedule your GatorWell screening! With a quick screening and short survey you will get a $50 amazon gift card. Take advantage of this benefit and come see us while you're at it. We will have a table at each screening check-in location. Sign a card if you haven't already or come chat with us about our union. Discord and open committees We recently redesigned our discord (thanks to Brandon Silva, GAU treasurer and bargaining team member) with the focus of making it EASIER to access information, join committees and ask questions. Every single committee is facing major pushback due to Florida legislation, UF bureaucracy, lack of support or, in most cases, all three. If you have a topic you care about and even a few hours to spare please join our discord and let us know! We have committees for healthcare, international GA concerns, government relations, housing, family and childcare, greivances, bargaining, communications, and organizing. GAU leadership and committee chairs would be delighted to share more information about any and all of these committees and their current focus. Even if you do not have spare time, we would love to have your voice in our discord community. Connect With Us Email us: organizing@ufgau.org Join our office hours: 8:30-11:30 Mon,Wed,Thurs and 12:45-2:45 Tues (Yon Hall Rm 224) Find us at a tabling event: 2/5: Plaza of the Americas 10am-2pm, 2/6: IFAS Millhopper (Fisheries Unit) 1pm-5pm, 2/7: Plaza of the Americas 10am-2pm, 2/8: Veterinary Medicine (academic building) 1pm-5pm Upcoming Events
1/31 Wednesday- Tabling at Reitz 10am-2pm - Organizing Meeting 5-6pm at Carr Hall 611 and Zoom 2/1 Thursday - Tabling at PHHP Courtyard 1pm-5pm - Bargaining session 1-3pm at Reitz G320 and ZOOM Save the date: 2/6 Tuesday - Social at 5pm at Rhines Hall Rm 125 2/12-15 - BLITZ (sign up here) Bargaining Updates from Thursday, Jan 25th This bargaining session UF brought forward their proposed changes, GAU did not bring forth any proposed changes this session. Article 6 - Employee Evaluation File
Article 5 - Employment Performance Evaluations:
Article 19 - Misc Provisions
Article 7 - Workload
Article 27 - Housing (new article from us, no proposal from them):
Committee Help Needed Our Healthcare and International committees need your help! Do you have thoughts on how to improve GatorGradCare? Please join our Healthcare Committee by emailing chair Nathan Ardnt, natdanarn@outlook.com. Have concerns about issues affecting international students? Join our international committee by getting on our discord and letting us know! Connect With Us Email us: organizing@ufgau.org Join our office hours: 8:30-11:30 Mon,Wed,Thurs and 12:45-2:45 Tues (Yon Hall Rm 224) Find us at a tabling event:1/31: Reitz 10am-2pm, 2/1: PHHP Courtyard 1pm-5pm 1/22/24 UF GAU Weekly Newsletter
Upcoming Events 1/22 Monday - Tabling at Fifield Hall 10am-2pm 1/23 Tuesday - Tabling at Reitz 1pm-5pm 1/24 Wednesday- Tabling at Plaza of the Americas 10am-2pm - Stewards Meeting 5-6pm at Carr Hall 611 and Zoom 1/25 Thursday - Tabling at Norman Hall 1pm-5pm - Bargaining session 1-3pm at Reitzz 3320 and Zoom Save the date: 2/6 Tuesday -Social at 5pm at Rhines Hall Rm 125 2/12-15 - BLITZ (sign up here) Blitz In February we’re goin crazyy. We are recruiting volunteers for our second blitz, from February 12-15. We will canvass and table across campus to reach as many graduate assistants as possible. We aim to reach our goal of 1776 signed interest cards! We’ll give you the deets at our stewards meeting on 1/24 and our social on 2/6! Sign up for a shift or two now! Bargaining Updates from Friday, Dec 8th See YouTube for Full Recording Today we got 3 counter-proposals from the UF team - GAU didn’t propose any new articles.
Position Statement on SB 264 Senate Bill (SB) 846, entitled “Agreements of Educational Entities with Foreign Entities” was passed by the Florida legislature Spring 2023 and took effect July 1, 2023. The Board of Governors (BoG) for the Florida State University System (SUS) recently released rules specifying implementation of this new law for higher education. This law affects international graduate assistants coming from the People’s Republic of China, the Russian Federation, the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the Republic of Cuba, Venezuela, or the Syrian Arab Republic. UF-GAU wanted to notify you of the most important aspects of this new law so you may prepare accordingly: Hiring
Travel
Grants & Partnerships
Future Employment
UF-GAU finds this law and accompanying BoG rule changes to be a xenophobic attack on our academic community, which thrives on international collaboration. If you are impacted by these rule changes, we want to hear about your experiences and how we can support you. For those receiving assistantships from an institution in any of the countries listed in the opening paragraph, we are happy to assist you in your appeal to the BoG to maintain that funding. Additionally, please keep us informed of any discriminatory hiring practices occurring in your department as a result of this rule change. We will continue to keep graduate assistants as informed as possible as we learn more information. UPDATE: We are currently requesting to meet with VP of HR to correct what we perceive as inaccurate guidance. We will be joing the UF faculty union to address this urgent issue on a united front. Organizing Updates We are in our final push for card signing! Do you have a card folder with signed cards? Please bring them to us ASAP! You can bring them to our table at any location or send us an email at organizing@ufgau.org We have about 30% membership and 1,100 interest cards signed! We need around 700 more cards to go, since we need to reach ~1,776 by early February! Committee Help Needed Our Healthcare and International committees need your help! Do you have thoughts on how to improve GatorGradCare? Please join our Healthcare Committee by emailing chair Nathan Ardnt, natdanarn@outlook.com. Have concerns about issues affecting international students? Join our international committee by getting on our discord and letting us know! Connect With Us Email us: organizing@ufgau.org Join our office hours: 8:30-11:30 Mon,Wed,Thurs and 12:45-2:45 Tues (Yon Hall Rm 224) Find us at a tabling event: 1/22: Fifield Hall 10am-2pm, 1/23: Reitz 1pm-5pm and at the plant science symposium. 1/24: Plaza of the Americas 10am-2pm, 1/25: Norman Hall 1pm-5pm 12/4/23 UF GAU Weekly Newsletter
Upcoming Events 12/5 Tuesday - Tabling at Reitz Union 11am-2pm 12/6 Wednesday - Tabling at Reitz Union 11am-2pm - Tabling on 6th floor of Library West 2:30pm-5:30pm 12/7 Thursday - Tabling at UFGI 11am-2pm - Organizing Meeting at Civic Media Center and Zoom 5pm-7pm 12/8 Friday - Tabling at the Horticulture Dept 12pm-3pm - Bargaining Session at Weimer G030 and Zoom 9:30am-11:30am Bargaining Updates from Friday, Dec 1st See YouTube for Full Recording On healthcare, GAU proposed:
On housing (Article 27), GAU proposed:
Additionally this session, UF provided three counter-proposals to GAU, on Articles 16 (GAU Rights), 23 (Totality of Agreement), and 24 (Severability).
Studio Art Dept Ceasefire Petition The Graduate Assistants (GAs) in the Studio Art program within the College of the Arts (COTA) have developed and circulated a petition in their department, which has garnered the signatures of a majority of the GAs there. They have requested that Graduate Assistant United (GAU) informs other GAs about their initiative, with the hope that it might inform similar efforts in other departments. You can find the text of the petition here. GAU is willing to promote initiatives by our members. Our sharing of this petition does not imply our official stance on it, however, see below for a related official GAU statement. Related to this petition: On Thursday Dec 7th at 12pm, JVP and SJP will be holding a press conference at City Hall to raise awareness about a proposed ceasefire resolution and a proposal for the city to divest from companies that profit from Isreali apartheid. This will be during a city commission meeting. At 12:45pm, those attending the press conference are encouraged to enter the meeting an participate in general public comment to make a 1-3 minute statement on the topic. Please see the linked pages for details of the commission meeting agenda and information about making a comment in person, via email, or online comment. GBM Recap and Election Results So many of you turned out for our General Body Meeting last Thursday! We heard committee updates, ate amazing food, sat on the floor when we ran out of chairs, and voted on some important matters! :) Election results:
Organizing Updates We reached 880 members, and got 1,000 cards signed! We need around 800 more cards to go and need to reach ~1,776 by early Febuary! To help the card campaign: if you are attending end-of-semester or holiday events, let us get you some blank cards! Even taking 15 minutes at an event to gather to get a few GA’s to sign cards makes a huge difference. We are doing another blitz! This upcoming Thursday we will be having our regular organizing meeting at the Civic Media Center 5-7pm. We will be starting to plan a blitz for early January. The goal is to get our membership numbers up and finish the card campaign. We do not yet have set dates and times but, we do want to get the word out and get an idea of how many people would be willing to lend a hand. GAU needs all the help we can get, if you can join us for a shift or two let us know! HELP NEEDED Committee Help Needed Our Healthcare and International committees need your help! Do you have thoughts on how to improve GatorGradCare? Please join our Healthcare Committee by emailing chair Nathan Ardnt, natdanarn@outlook.com. Have concerns about issues affecting international students? Join our international committee by getting on our discord and letting us know! Connect With Us Email us: organizing@ufgau.org Join our office hours: M 11:30-1:30, T/W/R 8:30-11:30 (12/04-12/08) Find us at a tabling event: Tues/Wed Reitz 11-2pm, Wed Library West (Grad Floor) 2:30pm-5:30pm, Thurs Genetics and Cancer Institute 11am-2pm, Fri Horticulture 12pm-3pm Join discord. 11/30 General Body Meeting - Cypress and Grove 6pm-8pm
-> food, drinks, solidarity! -> voting on budget and several officer positions 12/01 BARGAINING - Reitz Union 9:15am-11:30am -> Healthcare and Housing! Come show support! ->Reitz Union Room 3320 or ZOOM meeting, debrief 11/20 Monday - no events 11/21 Tuesday - Tabling at Reitz Union 11am-2pm 11/22 Wednesday - no events 11/23-11/24 - BREAK NO EVENTS
Committee Help Needed Our Healthcare and International committees need your help! We want our members to share their ideas! Do you have thoughts on GatorGradCare? Please join our Healthcare Committee by emailing chair Nathan Ardnt, natdanarn@outlook.com. Have concerns about issues affecting international students? Join our international committee by getting on our discord! Bargaining Updates In the bargaining session last Friday, Nov 17th, our bargaining committee discussed Article 11 which addresses the tuition program. Our proposal to allow all GAs to request extra credit hours for their tuition waiver (up to 12 in spring and 6 in summer). The proposal would also allow for TAs on 9 month contracts to request a tuition waiver for credits over the summer. GAU is now ready to “tentatively agree” to the changes. This means that union members will eventually vote on these changes and with approval they will be sent to the board of trustees for ratification. We also presented a proposal for Article 21 which covers discipline with the goal of strengthening the protections regarding disciplinary policy and action, especially in light of the stipulation placed into the merit raise we recently voted on. GAU constructed a proposal with clearer specification of disciplinary policy and action. The notice of discipline will also be more specifically defined and the proposal has measures for an improved Employee Assistance Program (EAP). In terms of specific disciplinary actions, the bargaining committee requested a limit to the minimum disciplinary punishment if a GA is found breaking the discriminatory bathroom law. Our bargaining committee also presented proposals to protect GA contracts in the event of the passage of new laws, court rulings and new university regulations or policies. These are covered in Article 23 - Totality of Agreement, Article 24 - Severability and a new article titled UF Regulations and Procedures. The GAU Bargaining Committee has been working on many different proposals as we are re-negotiating the entire collective bargaining agreement this year. You can watch each bargaining session on our youtube channel. Updates on the other proposals are in last week’s newsletter. As we get more updates we will post a new detailed list. Upcoming Bargaining On December 1, we will be presenting some of our most important proposals–on healthcare and housing! We want to get y’all out-of-network coverage, better dental, vision and more. Please come to our bargaining session and show the University how much these changes would affect our lives! Be there: Reitz Union Rm 3320 or ZOOM, Dec 1st, 9:15 -11:30am. Organizing Updates: Every week, our organizing team has been tabling to get cards signed and increase membership! We now have around half of the number of cards we need to give our union another year to reach 60% membership. Checking out cards to members has been a success, so thank you all for helping us reach our goal! Our newest effort is text banking to get more GA’s to our tabling events. To lend a hand, come to an organizing meeting! Another way you can help our card campaign: If you are attending any end-of-semester or holiday events (think grading parties, club gatherings, department socials), let us get you some blank cards! Even taking 15 minutes at an event to get a few GA’s to sign cards makes a huge difference. Tips for Recruiting New Members: We have found that having face-to-face conversations with GAs in our unit and answering their questions has gone a long way to increase our membership rates and we hope that our members can do the same! One topic many GAs are often concerned about is dues. Dues are 1% of our salary, for most GAs this is $10-15 a paycheck. Most of these dues go to our associated unions. All units within the United Faculty of Florida (GA unions, and faculty members) pay 1% dues, so GAs make up a very small portion of this budget. These dues pay for things like fighting legal battles related to the recent union busting legislation, statewide organizing efforts and a large network of support. We are connected to UFF along with the Florida Education Association, National Education Association and American Federation of Teachers. The amazing part about having these larger associations backing our union is that we get benefits from every single one! We are also entitled to a free legal council, local discounts and some funds do get directed back to the GAU to support organizing efforts and payday parties. If you include all of these benefits, and the better contracts that we are always bargaining for, union membership practically pays for itself! Spread the word that union membership is worth the price, and comes with some great perks! https://www.ufgau.org/benefits.html Email us: organizing@ufgau.org Join our office hours: None this week, M 11:30-1:30, T/W/R 8:30-11:30 (11/27-12/01) Find us at a tabling event: Reitz 11am-2pm Tuesday 11/21, T/W/R 11/28-11/30 Join Discord: discord Hi GA's,
We are very excited to be starting a weekly newsletter via email and this blog. In the longer blog post we will go into detail about every article we are bargaining on as well as organizing updates, committee updates and upcoming events! Comment and let us know what you would like to see! Upcoming Events: 11/30 - General Body Meeting, Cypress and Grove 6pm-8pm -> We will be voting to approve our budget and electing several officers 12/01 - Bargaining for Healthcare and Graduate Housing! -> We need members to attend and show that this is important! (same time, rm and zoom as 11/17) 11/14 Tuesday - Tabling at Reitz Union 11am-2pm 11/15 Wednesday - Tabling at Sun Terrace 11am-2pm 11/16 Thursday - Organizing Meeting and Phone-banking! 4pm-6pm Carr Hall (attached to Bartram Hall) Room 611 11/17 Friday - Bargaining Session! 9:15am-11:30am Reitz Union Room 3320 or ZOOM meeting, debrief - Tabling at Steinmetz Hall 11am-2pm *FEES DUE 11pm (avoid a late fee) *GAU Office Hours Yon Hall Room 224 (M 11:45am-1:45pm, T/W/R 8:30am-11:30pm) Committee Help Needed: Our Healthcare and International committees need your help! We are currently bargaining for changes to our health insurance policy and we need members interested in change to help contribute ideas and input! If you are interested in or concerned about GatorGradCare please join the committee! Email our chair Nathan Ardnt (natdanarn@outlook.com). If you are interested in joining our international committee please join our discord, and let us know! We need more input from international students and more members to help our committee thrive! Bargaining: UPCOMING - Dec 1st Bargaining session (9:15 -11:30am) GAU is presenting proposals for healthcare and graduate housing! We need GAs to attend and show that this matters to us! (Reitz Union Rm 3320 or ZOOM) The GAU has signed and agreement on Article 10. The minimum GA stipend will be raised to $19,000 for 9-month employees and $25,600 for 12-month employees, with an additional raise of $400 for 9 month contracts and $533 for 12 month contracts for all continuing employees that have not been formally disciplined. Read the post below, from the Alligator for more details! After coming to an agreement with UF and voting to approve the tentative proposal, our bargaining committee signed the proposal (in September). Since that time we have been waiting for the Board of Trustees to ratify the proposal so that it can go into effect. The board has confirmed that our proposal for Article 10 will be on the agenda for their two-day meeting December 7th-8th. The university has assured us that Article 10 should be ratified then. Once the raise is ratified, there will be back pay to the effective start date of Oct 1st. Each paycheck following ratification should be a $20 increase for all GA's and a $130 increase for those that were at the minimum stipend. This means around $80 and $450 on the first paycheck after ratification when you factor in backpay. Bargaining Updates by Article Outside of Article 10, the GAU Bargaining Committee has been working on many different proposals as we are re-negotiating the entire collective bargaining agreement this year. You can watch each bargaining session on our youtube channel. Articles 1 and 2 - Current Contract Langauge (CCL) -> Our bargaining committee has discussed with UF, agreed and signed the proposals for current contract language. This was regarding the recognition of the union and university rights. Article 3 - Consultation -> The committee is asking for at least one required meeting with the University president under certain conditions (e.g. a pre-approved agenda, no bargaining or policies discussed, etc.) Article 4 - Appointments, Reappointments and Terminations -> GAU has crafted a counterproposal which defines the letter of offer as separate from the letter of appointment (LOA). Currently only the LOA is legally binding which means that no multi-year agreements can be enforced. -> The proposal ensures that international students will receive payroll onboarding information well in advance to ensure they are paid when their appointment starts -> It also stipulates that UF must reassign a student when possible if their assistantship is “curtailed” mid-semester. When that is not possible the committee is requesting severance pay until the end of the LOA or up to 20 weeks (whichever comes first). This is to give the GA time to make other arrangements. Article 8 - Leaves of Absence -> GAU is proposing to make an exception to the current rule preventing first-semester GAs from taking paid leave for the birth of a child, adoption of a child, or placement of a child from foster care. Article 11 - Tuition Program -> UF argued against a previous proposal brought by the GAU which asked for the university to pay up to 12 credits for students required to do so by their department. They stated that they did not find any departments where this occurred. -> Updated GAU proposal primarily allowing students to request additional course credits to be paid for at the discretion of UF with the support of their advisor and department chair Article 13 - Unlawful Discrimination -> GAU presented a proposal with substantial changes including updates to definitions, clearing up processes, and ensuring additional protections for students -> A new section was added to specifically ensure reasonable access to gender neutral bathrooms -> GAU additionally requested that if any discriminatory legislation was passed, UF and GAU can open a dialogue for how to enforce legislation with the best interest of the GAs at heart Article 14 - Copyrights and Patents -> UF and GAU reached a tentative agreement, this is current contract language! Article 15 - Outside activities and “conflicts of interest” -> UF brought a proposal to clarify what conflict of interest is and the process students must take if this is the case using university regulations -> GAU has tentatively agreed to this change Article 16 - GAU Rights -> GAU proposed to change title of article from “use of facilities” to “GAU Rights” -> GAU proposal also called for updating released time (RT) to be 0.5 FTE instead of 0.33; the total FTE for RT was increased to allow for 13 RT students per year which is the same number currently offered for 0.33 FTE -> The proposal added provisions to require that UF inform the GAU of all offices on campus that have graduate assistants and to inform the GAU of all new GA orientations -> UF seemed receptive to the office provision but not to the orientation provision. Article 17 - Dues Deductions -> GAU signed the latest version of this article which had been open since the summer as “impact bargaining” from SB 256. This will likely be tentatively agreed to and ratified in 2024 along with the full book rather than on its own. Article 18 - Insurance Deduction -> GAU signed a tentative agreement on this article, this is current contract language! Article 20 - Other Employee Rights -> GAU brought a proposal to move the new provision of outside employment in the (waiting to be ratified) Article 10 and clearing up the language about conflicts of interest with outside employmeent. Organizing: Our card campaign is going well and we are about ⅓ of the way to our goal. We are working from all angles to increase both membership and number of card signatures. This includes tabling, attending departmental events, working with student orgs., and reaching out via targetted emails, phone calls and texts. Most importantly, our department stewards and active members are checking out folders and getting cards signed in their department! This has been the most successful strategy. We want to encourage any member looking to help to check out a folder and tell us about upcoming events! If you are attending an organizational meeting, seminar, social event, or even a class, bring a few cards and get a few signed! Every card counts and you can easily make it work with your busy schedule. If you can’t make it to our table, send us an email: uf.gau.voice@gmail.com, pop by office hours in Yon Hall or reach out on discord and we can find a way to get you some cards! We are also sending cards to members at satellite campuses, if you can get card signed at your satellite campus send us an email and we can mail cards, instructions and return postage direct to you! This week’s organizing meeting is Thursday 11/16 from 4-6pm in Carr Hall Room 611. We will be using a good portion of our meeting time to phone-bank and get more people to come out to our tabling events to sign cards! The Alligator Opinion|Columns
By Cassie Urbenz September 19th, 2023 Despite the attacks on unions from Florida's legislature, Graduate Assistants United has achieved a historic win for our members. As a certified labor union, we have the legal authority to bargain with our employer over our Collective Bargaining Agreement. Collective bargaining is essential to ensuring the dignity of our labor, as it is the basis for our right to directly negotiate terms of our employment contract, including working conditions and compensation. The series of bargaining sessions that began in January of 2023 has resulted in the largest raise to the minimum stipend UF-GAU has seen in its 50-year history, more than doubling our historic win last year. Our bargaining team has reached a tentative agreement that results in a $2,200 raise for graduate assistants on 9-month appointments, a $2,847 raise for GAs on 12-month appointments, a $400 merit raise for all 9-month GAs who have not been formally disciplined in the past year, and 12-month GAs of the same status getting a $533 raise. The implementation of this tentative agreement will improve the living conditions of most of our bargaining unit: around 1000 GAs across 145 departments will see a raise to their minimum stipend and most continuing employees will receive a merit raise. In addition to these raises, departments can no longer restrict outside employment unless prohibited by law, university regulation, or outside funding sources– meaning that domestic students can now work outside of UF to help make ends meet. Nothing will radicalize you like a bargaining session. January was quite some time ago, and the road to agreement was not easy. The lowest point in the negotiations was marked by a meeting in April where the UF bargaining team came without a proposal and instead chose to debate how GAs are expected to fund our education and livelihoods. At various points in the session, the university’s representatives said that we do not deserve a living wage and that loans are an option for supplementing our paltry incomes UF claims they are not responsible for keeping up with inflation or ensuring our minimum stipend meets the increasing cost of living in Gainesville. Even after this historic raise, our highest minimum stipend increase was in 2017. Rather than trying to summarize the nuances of these crucial meetings, we strongly encourage as many people as possible to attend and see what’s happening at these sessions. The university works because we do– however, because we are forbidden from striking, it is difficult to demonstrate to UF how much they need our labor and how imperative it is to compensate us fairly. Consequently, we are left in the obsequious position of pleading with the university by sharing our experiences of hardship. It is always a jarring experience to newcomers and bargaining veterans alike when the university conveys its utter lack of concern for our financial distress in these public meetings. The union’s message to all GAs and the University. GAU’s long term goal is to achieve a living wage for all GAs, which according to MIT’s living wage calculator, is close to $34,000. We want our bargaining unit to know that any agreement we reach that falls short of this mark is a compromise and a stepping stone toward this larger goal. We also believe it is in the university’s best interest to maintain its top public university status by compensating us at a rate that will attract the best researchers and teachers in the country. The reality is that, even with this historic raise to the minimum, we aren’t paid enough. When you aren’t among the long line of graduate students accumulating weekly at six in the morning on Thursdays at the Field and Fork food pantry, it can slip your mind. For those of us in those lines, it’s hard to forget. For context, even those paid over $10,000 above the current minimum barely meet the cost of living for Gainesville. As one of the GAs that currently makes the minimum stipend, this raise will be life-changing, and I’ll be able to secure reliable transportation thanks to this win. For those of us with pets, debt, medical expenses, and children, it can mean even more. Nevertheless, we have to keep our eyes on the prize and be clear about what our goals are. Until all GAs have a living wage, the struggle for better stipends will continue. [...] Want to make sure we keep our bargaining rights? Becoming a member is easy and affordable. The only requirement to be a member and help reach the new 60% goal required by the Florida legislature is to pay dues. Dues are only 1% of your paycheck, and are paid on payday to ensure minimal financial disruption. The benefits of being a union member (e.g., representation during grievances, free legal counseling, access to free food and drink at payday parties, local and national discounts) and those of maintaining the union (like bargaining) far outweigh the 1% cost (~8/biweekly, or $192/yr for those soon to earn the new minimum) considering savings from GatorGradCare ($2,400-$3,000/yr), fee relief (~$700/semester), and the raises we bargain for. For EVERYONE, joining GAU is easy! Due to a system update installed this past week, returning members can now use the new member link without creating a duplicate. You can simply visit this website: https://feacms.floridaea.org/portal/fasttrack/79/form and complete the form. You can alternatively visit our website at www.ufgau.com and navigate to “take action” and “become a member” to access the form. Cassie Urbenz, Brandon Silva, Hannah Jacobs, and Sikander Khare, GAU's Bargaining Chair, contributed to this report. |
BARGAININGCollective bargaining is the process by which labor unions negotiate with employers to reach a contract on terms of employment, including salary, health care, benefits, and workplace safety. Each year, GAU bargains with UF over such terms. Archives
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