Grad workers win the right to contest contract violations

Increasing graduate worker pressure on management won victories in Friday’s bargaining session! Grad workers’ collective activity pushed Penn to make progress on Grievance and Arbitration, reaching a tentative agreement. This article, often called the “backbone” of a contract, ensures that workers can actually enforce the rights and protections we win at the table. This tentative agreement was part of a package proposal with No Strike/No Lockout, a standard agreement to not strike during the life of the contract. We also reached a tentative agreement on Workspace and Materials, after months of negotiations. These wins are the result of the organizing efforts of workers across the unit, as we continue to show Penn our collective power.

Here’s a summary of Friday’s session:

• We reached a tentative agreement on Workspace and Materials
• We reached a tentative agreement on a “package” of No Strike/No Lockout and Grievance and Arbitration, which is crucial for enforcing protections for graduate student workers. As part of this package, the University also agreed to withdraw its outrageous proposal for a Probationary Period.
• We also presented counterproposals on Union Rights, Freedom of Speech, and Discipline & Dismissal.

As we approach the summer months, we must continue to push Penn to move forward on over 10 proposals they have yet to respond to. Friday was a big win, but we can’t back down while we wait for Penn to respond to important articles such as Prohibition of Discrimination and Harassment and Support for International and Immigrant Workers. This week, graduate workers from across Penn will meet for a General Membership Meeting on Wednesday, May 7th from 6-7:30pm. We will review the current state of bargaining and kick off plans to build on Friday’s wins over the summer. Let’s keep our momentum going! RSVP to attend here.