Categories: Updates

Forward momentum in the bargaining room

Yesterday, graduate workers met with Penn admin for our third bargaining session of the Spring semester. Following our Rally for a Fair Contract on January 28th, both parties came ready to make progress on negotiations.

We opened our discussion yesterday by presenting a counterproposal to the University’s Management & Academic Rights article. In our response, we explicitly identified what we see as outstanding issues in the information provided by the University and a lack of engagement with our other proposals. They agreed to revisit our requests for information and some other proposals, and they were appreciative that we were willing to make progress on this article.

Here’s what happened in yesterday’s session:

We presented a counterproposal to Management & Academic Rights.
We introduced a proposal on Vacation.
- This article would set standards for minimum vacation time policies, the ability to roll over vacation time, and options to cash out unused vacation days for grad workers.
Penn admin presented a counterproposal on Workers’ Compensation.
- Admin responded by rejecting the entirety of our language and replacing it with a single sentence limiting workers’ compensation benefits to the legal minimum, which is less than what other Penn employees already receive. However, after extensive conversation on the topic, it appeared admin will be willing to make movement on this article in the future.
Admin presented a counterproposal on Intellectual Property.
- Admin had been sitting on this article since we proposed it over three months ago on October 30th. While we agree on aspects of their response, we found section 5 particularly concerning, which states that teaching materials and other pedagogical resources developed by graduate workers would become the property of the University indefinitely.

Today’s session represented an important step forward in terms of productive engagement with management. However, Penn admin is continuing to negotiate far too slowly given the needs of grad workers. Quick progress is crucial in light of the serious threats to our rights by executive action. The only way we can speed up negotiations is by putting pressure on the University through collective action.

Showing our numbers in the bargaining room is one way we can consistently show our power. Join us there next Monday, February 17th, at the Sheraton University City between 10:30 am-4:30 pm. Even if you can only attend for a portion of the session, every graduate worker present in the room makes a difference in ensuring the continued forward momentum of our historic campaign.

In Solidarity, and Go Birds,

The GETUP-UAW Bargaining Committee

Clara Abbott

Emily Aunins

Peter Bailer

Oishi Bardhan

Kal Brown

Eli Fastow

Adina Goldstein

Sam Herrmann

Sam Layding

George Lin