Categories: Updates

Grad workers fight to include BGS and Bio workers on rotation

This Monday, grad workers continued negotiations with admin and exchanged counterproposals on several outstanding articles.

Graduate workers passed counterproposals on Support for Immigrant and International Workers, Access Needs, Union Security, and Recognition
Admin passed counterproposals on Union Security and Prohibition Against Harassment and Discrimination

On Monday afternoon, grad workers presented a proposal to admin on Recognition which maintains our stance that grad workers in their first year in Biology and first two years in Biomedical Graduate Studies (BGS) programs should be covered by our contract. Admin maintains that these grad workers do not make meaningful contributions to Penn, and thus do not qualify as workers. In response, we presented a stack of 200 peer-reviewed journal articles that were co-authored by BGS and Biology grad workers while they were on rotations.

Admin responded to our proposal on Prohibition Against Harassment and Discrimination, and to the counterproposal we presented on Union Security. Admin continued to delay its negotiation on our anti-discrimination article, and responded to a previous version of the article instead of the one we had most recently presented. When they finally admitted to their mistake and countered the correct version of the article, they backtracked on the substantial movement we had made since the last session. We reminded them that earlier this year, over 2,000 grad workers signed a petition demanding enshrined protections, and that a strong majority of grad workers would be unwilling to accept their weak counterproposal.

Admin made a quick turnaround on responding to our Union Security article, and we believe that we are getting closer to reaching an agreement that will ensure that future grad workers will have a secure graduate union during their time at Penn. However, their slow movement on other articles shows us that we will only win the contract we deserve if we demonstrate our collective power. The best way that we can push forward on reaching tentative agreements is by continuing to have conversations with our coworkers and organizing around the issues that matter to us. Join us next Monday, September 13, at the weekly unit organizing meeting to discuss our plans moving forward, and at your designated area meeting.

In solidarity,

The GETUP-UAW Bargaining Committee

Clara Abbott

Emily Aunins

Peter Bailer

Oishi Bardhan

Kal Brown

Caitlin Frazee

Katelyn Friedline

Adina Goldstein

Sam Herrmann

Jimmy Kelliher