NYU’s graduate student union will start bargaining for its next contract with the university on May 4, with plans to demand higher wages, expand health care benefits and increase protection for its noncitizen and immigrant members.
Over 600 members of the union, GSOC-UAW — which represents over 2,000 graduate student workers — ratified its initial bargaining goals at the end of last month, after conducting surveys and hosting town halls to assess members’ priorities. The nine-member bargaining committee is now set to sit down with NYU’s negotiators four months before the union’s contract expires.
The union said that in negotiations, it will “fight against dangerous assaults” on members’ academic freedom and ability to protest on campus. In its bargaining goals, GSOC emphasized protecting international and noncitizen student workers in the wake of the Trump administration’s threats to revoke students’ visas and crack down on political speech on college campuses.
In bargaining sessions, the committee also plans to urge NYU to expand members’ current health care plan to include “high-quality” dental and vision care. While the current contract does not detail members’ vision care plan, it states that the university must reimburse out-of-pocket medical and dental care expenses. GSOC said earlier this month that NYU reimbursed graduate student workers $60,000 in health care backpay after it “miscalculated” how much they were owed.
NYU spokesperson Carol Ourivio said in a statement to WSN that the university is “looking forward” to the upcoming bargaining session with GSOC committee members. Ourivio did not address WSN’s request for comment regarding the union’s $60,000 health care reimbursement.
“Our graduate student employees make important contributions to the life of the university,” Ourivio said. “We will negotiate in good faith to reach a fair contract.”
Last week, graduate researchers in STEM departments launched a campaign to be represented by GSOC in its collective bargaining efforts, garnering over 100 signatures in under a week. After NYU “would not agree” to research assistants’ right to bargain, they were left with uneven benefits compared to those in non-STEM fields and “carved out” of the existing contract, according to the union.
GSOC’s current contract was ratified in June 2021, following nearly a year of negotiations and a three-week strike. In October, the union staged a study-in at Bobst Library, demanding a meeting with administrators and claiming their contractual protections as both students and unionized workers were dismissed during disciplinary hearings last year.
NYU’s contract faculty union also recently ratified its first agreement with administrators after more than a year of negotiations and a two-day strike. GSOC repeatedly expressed support for the faculty union throughout its bargaining, with members often speaking at rallies and proclaiming solidarity.
Contact Leena Ahmed at [email protected].