Graduate Student Union Negotiations

Background Information

On July 14, 2023, the National Labor Relations Board ordered that an election take place among graduate students performing instructional and research services to determine if the United Autoworkers Union should represent them in negotiations for a union contract with Northeastern.  A request for review of that determination remains pending with the NLRB.  In late September, the election resulted in the United Autoworkers Union receiving a majority of votes cast and negotiations over the terms of a graduate union contract have now commenced between the University and the Union.

This webpage will provide periodic updates concerning bargaining, with individual bargaining sessions identified below.

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Bargaining History

September 21, 2023

Union election results announced that the United Autoworkers had been elected to represent a bargaining unit of graduate students.

October 23, 2023

Union requested to meet to begin the contract negotiation process. The University offered to meet on November 8, 2023 to begin negotiations.

November 8, 2023

The University arrived with its bargaining team for negotiations. The Union was present with 8 representatives. The University asked if the Union wanted to begin contract negotiations and the Union replied that it did not come to the meeting ready to bargain because it had no bargaining team assembled. It was agreed that the parties would meet again on December 13th for bargaining.

December 13, 2023

The University arrived with its bargaining team for negotiations. The Union was present with its bargaining committee, but offered no proposals for a contract. The Union used the majority of the meeting time discussing PhD desk space in the Khoury College of Computer Sciences. The University asked if the Union had a contract proposal about desk space or any other matter that it wanted to discuss. The Union responded that it had no contract proposals, and requested information about desk space in other colleges. The Union proposed that the parties next meet for bargaining on January 25, 2024.

January 25, 2024

The parties met for what was the second official negotiation session.  The Union brought counterproposals on ground rules that had been proposed by the University in December, and after brief discussion with no agreement, the Union presented its first proposals concerning employment records and severability.  Following discussion of the Union’s proposals, the University put forward a comprehensive package proposal, representing a complete contract that the University said it was willing to sign immediately, or when the Union was ready.

The University explained that this proposed contract had many of the provisions that are found in other graduate union contracts, including economic increases, time off, holidays and parental leave, as well as funds for medical and dental assistance for stipended PhDs, workplace safety, non-discrimination and anti-retaliation provisions, along with a comprehensive grievance process.  The parties then adjourned for the day.

A copy of the University’s proposed union contract can be viewed here.

February 16, 2024

The parties met for their third negotiation session. The University brought counterproposals to changes the Union proposed on ground rules, with no response from the Union. The Union then rejected the University’s proposed union contract and announced its intention to negotiate one provision at a time. The Union then presented three new proposals concerning job postings, successorship and labor/management committee. After some questions from the University about the rationale for the Union proposals, the Union asked that the University respond to the proposals from January 25th. The University said it would respond soon, but if the Union wanted to make progress in bargaining it should focus on the more difficult issues in negotiation that take longer to address than smaller topics such as labor/management committee, severability and job postings.

March 15, 2024

The parties met for their fourth negotiation session and the University offered an updated comprehensive package proposal for a complete contract to the Union’s bargaining team. The updated contract proposal included counterproposals to the Union on the subjects of Employment Records, Job Postings, Labor/Management Committee and Severability. The Union then offered proposals on subcontracting and holidays. The Union asked for an update to information responses on several items, and declared that it was unable to advance substantive proposals without a complete information response. The University pointed out that it had responded to a significant number of requests already, including pay rates and health insurance, and asked the Union why it felt unable to make proposals on substantive issues such as PhD stipends, health insurance, co-pay assistance and many other issues the Union had emphasized as important to graduate students during the Union’s organizing campaign. The Union reiterated that it felt unable to do so at this time.

A copy of the University’s updated proposed union contract can be viewed here.

April 3, 2024

The parties met for their fifth negotiation session and the University asked if the Union had any response to the contract proposal offered on March 15th. The Union responded that it would not respond to the contract offer, and said that it would raise issues in a piecemeal fashion in the order that it wanted. The Union then asked that the University review the Union’s prior proposals line-by-line during negotiations and review any disagreement. The University explained that the concepts in Union proposals were already reflected in University counter-proposals, and that going through Union proposals line-by-line would slow the negotiation process significantly. The Union responded that it did not care if negotiations took more time, and asked the University to come to the next bargaining session ready to review prior Union proposals one line at a time. The Union also reviewed the status of certain information request responses and the University explained that information had already been provided on several of the responses in the group of requests, and that it had asked the Union for clarification on other requests, and the Union had never replied. The Union said it would go back and again review the University responses to see if it missed information or clarification requests from the University. The Union then advanced proposals on appointments and appointment security toward the end of the negotiation session.

April 25, 2024

The parties met for their sixth negotiation session. The Union began the meeting by raising an issue it had asked about previously concerning funding for PhD students in CSSH who were entering the 6th year of a PhD program, and whose five-year funding had expired. The University explained that it had already responded to the Union about the issue, and suggested that the Union advance a proposal in negotiations on the matter. Continued discussion of the issue, including a caucus, took up over an hour of the bargaining session. The Union briefly advanced new proposals on Employee Assistance Plan access, Travel Funding and VCAP (voluntary UAW political committee contributions). After a brief discussion of the Union’s proposals, the Union said it had nothing further. The University then began discussing the Union’s earlier proposals line-by-line as was requested by the Union during the April 3rd bargaining meeting. After a several minutes, the Union asked if the parties could instead focus on several issues of concern to the Union, rather than discussing the Union proposals in detail. The balance of the bargaining session was then centered on aspects of the Union’s proposals and University counterproposals on Employment Records and Job Postings, along with a discussion about the PhD appointment process. The discussion was productive and cordial and the University stated that it would bring further counterproposals to the next bargaining session.

May 16, 2024

The parties met for their seventh negotiation session and the Union began the meeting asking about the ability of certain PhD students in a department of CSSH to have funding extended into a 6^th year.  The University directed the Union to two written responses it had sent the Union about the issue, and again suggested that the Union consider advancing a proposal in bargaining about the issue if it was a concern. The University explained that suggesting Union members call the Dean of CSSH about this issue, as the Union had done in an email communication, was subverting the bargaining process and arguably a violation of the duty to bargain under federal labor law. The University said it would examine the funding issue further if the Union had additional information or questions that it wanted to share. The Union then presented proposals on Training, Automation and Intellectual Property.  After several questions from the University and some discussion of the proposals, the University advanced counterproposals on Employment Records, Position Postings, Stipended Appointments and Travel. The parties spent the balance of the time in a productive discussion concerning the Union’s proposals and the University’s counterproposals.

May 31, 2024

The parties met for their eighth bargaining session and the University began the conversation with a counterproposal on Training and Travel that supplemented its initial Training proposal from January 25^th.  The University’s new language proposed, among other things, time off and funding for graduate students taking professional licensing exams related to their TA or RA work, counting training time as “work hours” under the contract, and a process for timely reimbursement process for students engaged in travel related to their appointments.  The Union then offered proposals on Union Security (requiring graduate students to pay union dues or fees), Union Access and Rights (requiring, among other things, a mandatory union-run orientation for all new graduate students), Recognition (including graduate students on a Fellowship among the unionized group), and Professional Development.  The University asked why the Union was insisting that students on a Fellowship be part of the bargaining unit, particularly given that the Union told the National Labor Relations Board that Fellows should not be in the represented group, and the Union said it changed its mind.  The University reminded the Union that had no basis now to insist that Fellowship students be included in the bargaining unit.  The parties discussed the Union’s proposals, and Union counterproposals on Severability, Labor Management Committee, Employment Records, Successorship, Automation, and Intellectual Property before breaking for the day.

June 18, 2024