Penn's graduate student workers' union has ratified its initial bargaining demands and entered contract negotiations with the University.
Graduate Employees Together — University of Pennsylvania announced in an Oct. 17 Instagram post that a majority of its over 2,000 graduate workers had ratified its initial bargaining demands, which aim to combat issues including holidays, work scheduling, and travel. The union held its first bargaining session with the University the same day, and they posted a list of five initial bargaining demands on social media shortly after.
The demands relate to labor-management meetings, severability, holidays, travel, and workplace and materials. According to the Instagram posts, the union has already reached a “tentative agreement” with the university on the labor-management demand, while Penn has made a counteroffer to the severability demand.
Cell and molecular biology Ph.D. student Emily Aunins explained the specifics of the management deal the union has struck with the administration in an email to The Daily Pennsylvanian.
“This agreement stipulates the creation of a four-person team of graduate workers that will meet with a four-person team of Penn admin during the contract period,” Aunins wrote. “This maintains an open line of communication between grad workers and Penn admin even when we aren’t in negotiations.”
She added that the articles outlined in GET-UP's first bargaining session focused on social and cultural issues, rather than economic ones — just one aspect of their agenda. She also emphasized the importance of combating bullying and harassment on campus.
“The articles we have proposed so far make up our entire ‘non-economic’ platform, which includes articles intended to protect freedom of speech and expression, increase campus access for those with disabilities, prohibit discrimination, bullying and harassment, increase transparency around job expectations and workload, and so much more,” she wrote.
She added that Penn's policies against bullying and harassment are "not sufficient" for students facing misconduct in labs or classrooms.
"The Bargaining Committee has proposed an article that provides a broader and more comprehensive definition of what constitutes discrimination, abusive conduct and harassment," she wrote.
Aunins also wrote that the union is aiming to implement several protections and support measures for workers, including pregnancy-related accommodations and the prohibition of excessive police force against protesters.
Following two additional bargaining sessions, the union announced on Nov. 6 that they had presented three new proposals to the University pertaining to discipline and dismissal, appointments, and job expectations and work scheduling
GET-UP also announced that the administration had responded to two proposals regarding employment records and job postings, offering a counter-proposal on the first topic while refusing a negotiation on the latter. The administration has also proposed two new articles to prevent strikes and lockouts.
Aunins commended successful graduate worker union efforts at other institutions — including Yale University — and stressed the importance of negotiation in her statement.
“Now that we have a union, Penn cannot unilaterally make changes to our compensation or working conditions without negotiating over those issues with graduate workers,” she wrote. “To give just one example of what the impact of that would look like, unionized graduate workers at Yale recently won pay increases between 30-50%, full healthcare coverage for spouses and dependents, and the option to contribute to Yale’s retirement plan.”
The union will hold their fourth bargaining session with the University on Nov. 21.
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