6/17/26 Bargaining Session: Slow Going on Union Rights and NDH

We made some progress towards a new contract at the June 16 bargaining session with the University. You can read the notes from the session here. We came prepared with counters on 4 articles, and the University brought 2 counters.

The Union made significant movement towards the University’s language in all four of their proposals. Meanwhile, in neither of their two counters did the University move towards the Union’s position at all.

Working through 4 Articles

• Union Rights

  • Both parties presented updated proposals on this article. The main disagreements are about how the Union can book rooms for meetings on campus and what information the University must provide to SWC so that the Union can best represent its members.

  • The Union continues to demand a way to book spaces on campus for its meetings, longer SWC orientation periods during orientation week, bulletin board space, and an expanded list of Student employee information so that it can best represent its members. SWC moved towards the University’s position by withdrawing a demand for an office space on campus and by reinstating two clauses from our previous contract.

  • The University moved away not just from the Union’s position, but also the existing contract, by (1) tripling the amount of time to provide the Union with information about Student Employees (from 20 days to 60), (2) providing this information for only the Fall and Spring terms, and (3) requiring that the Union both obtain a FERPA release waiver and provide such release to the University in a timely manner for every student employee before being able to obtain basic work information about them.

• Union Leave

  • SWC presented an updated proposal asking for the right to nominate up to 5 Student Employee Representatives each semester. These student workers would be relieved from teaching and research responsibilities so that they can help administer the contract. Multiple other graduate student unions have a version of union leave which has helped them enforce their contracts.

  • The University has stated they will not be countering this article.

• Non-Discrimination and Harassment

  • Both parties presented updated proposals on this article and we spent the bulk of the session discussing it.

  • The Union accepted much of the University’s proposed language from their previous counter but is continuing to fight for shorter investigatory timelines, the right to Union representation, and an appropriate definition of power-based harassment.

  • The Union also argued for language about access to lactation rooms, disability accommodations, and free gender expression that the University does not seem open to discussing, despite the fact that all of these are very common in other similar graduate student-worker contracts.

  • The University’s proposal did not move towards the Union’s position at all. They changed some language in the Abusive Conduct section to point to the new process they have in place for anti-bullying and added two sentences earlier in the article to reflect recent changes in privacy laws.

• Academic Freedom

  • The Union presented our updated Academic Freedom article, which is attempting to enshrine academic freedom rights into our contract. In this session, we added language about the right to refuse being recorded in the classroom and a clause about how the University should support student-workers who have been doxxed.

  • The University has indicated they will not be countering this article.

Take action for a better contract

The stronger and more visible our membership is, the better our position at the table.

Join us at the next Bargaining Committee Meeting on Thursday, June 18 at 1pm ET as we decide what to bring to the table for our next session. Join using this Zoom link.

Up Next: GBM to Decide Next Moves on 5+ articles

The BC is planning to call for a GBM on June 25th to discuss our next moves on 5+ articles. We will come with concrete proposals on how to move forward on:

• Discipline and Discharge

• Academic Conduct

• Housing Access

• Relocation Assistance

• Retirement

Then we will begin discussing next steps on at least five articles where the BC is anxious to hear member input:

• Obligations Under International Law

• Health and Safety

• Surveillance and Monitoring

• Artificial Intelligence

• Academic Freedom

We hope to see you on June 25. Whether you’ve attended many meetings, or this will be your first, your input matters. Please look out for an email with an RSVP link to the GBM once it is officially scheduled.

Next Bargaining Session: July 9 at 10am

Join us at our next bargaining session with the University on July 9th at 10am at the Interfaith Center of New York, 475 Riverside Drive. RSVP here.