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10/11/2024 | News release | Distributed by Public on 10/12/2024 07:04

Graduate Student Union Agrees to put BU’s Offer to a Ratification Vote That Would End Strike

Graduate Student Union Agrees to put BU's Offer to a Ratification Vote That Would End Strike

The Boston University Graduate Workers Union and the University have agreed to a three-year contract, pending ratification by union members, that would end a seven-month strike and increase stipends and benefits. Photo by Kate Kotlyar (COM'26)

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Graduate Student Union Agrees to Put BU's Offer to a Ratification Vote That Would End Strike

If ratified next week, the deal increases PhD stipends, childcare support

October 11, 2024
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Editor's note: This story may be updated with more reaction to the news.

Boston University's striking Graduate Workers Union (BUGWU) agreed on Friday to put BU's last three-year contract offer, which boosts stipends and benefits, to a ratification vote. If the agreement is ratified by the full union over the next few days, it would bring an end to a seven-month strike by some of the student workers.

The contract, assuming it's ratified by graduate student workers in a vote that runs from October 11 until October 16, will pay a minimum 12-month stipend of $45,000 to all PhD students within the University's five-year funding guarantee, effective 30 days after ratification. (All PhD students are given a guaranteed five-year stipend, which would be adjusted to the new contract's levels for those workers who are midway through their five-year period.)

The University has finalized a return-to-work agreement with the union, which represents more than 3,000 master's, professional, and PhD graduate students who assist faculty with teaching and research. As the strike went on longer, from the spring and into the fall semester classes, many of the student workers returned to work while awaiting a new contract, while some remained out on strike.

Student workers would receive annual stipend increases of 3 percent during the life of the new contract. All PhD students, some who are currently on 8-month contracts, would receive 12-month stipends during their five-year funding guarantee. For those students who are upgraded from 8 to 12 months, the $45,000 minimum would be a 61 percent increase in their stipend support.

The new stipends and benefits in the contract were offered by the University in August during negotiations with BUGWU. Gloria Waters, University provost and chief academic officer, said then that the offer reflected "substantial movement in response to the concerns raised by BUGWU's negotiating team" over the past year of negotiations.

U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) spoke during a kick-off rally by the striking Boston University Graduate Workers Union on Marsh Plaza back in March. Pressley (Hon.'21) was a student at BU's College of General Studies. Photo by Janice Checchio

"I appreciate and respect all of the time and effort our graduate students have put into understanding the needs of their fellow students, and advocating for the needs of all graduate students," Waters says. "In the end, I think that the agreement we have come to is fair and competitive with our peers.

"Providing 12 months of guaranteed funding for all students, not just those in STEM fields, is particularly important and will enhance both the lives and educational experience of our students. I very much appreciate the willingness of our faculty to take on the additional work created by the strike, to ensure that the education of our undergraduates was not interrupted. I also appreciate the countless hours that members of our negotiating team have put in over many months to allow us to come to this agreement."

Under the contract, BU would continue to cover the tuition of all PhD students within the five-year funding guarantee, currently $64,000 annually, and would also continue to cover health insurance for PhD students without their having to share the cost of premiums, now valued between $3,400 and $4,500 per year. As part of the contract, the University would cover the cost of adding dependents through age six to the Student Health Services plan.

The contract also would boost or add benefits, including:

  • An increase, from 8 to 14 weeks, in paid childcare leave for full-time, stipended graduate students who are new parents.
  • A $3,500 annual childcare subsidy for households below a certain income cap.
  • An annual "help fund" of $200,000 to support graduate students with a variety of emergency needs.
  • Transportation benefits for all workers in the unit, who would receive either a 50 percent MBTA subsidy or bicycle commuter reimbursement benefits.
  • $100 yearly toward dental insurance for each stipended, full-time PhD student.

BUGWU is part of SEIU Local 509, which represents human service workers and educators in Massachusetts. Contract negotiations with the University began in July 2023; some members went on strike in March in support of increased stipends and better benefits.

BUGWU students, which include teaching assistants and teaching fellows, are paid for up to 20 hours of work per week. They also spend additional time as students, fulfilling course requirements and doing dissertation research.

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  • Rich Barlow

    Senior Writer

    Rich Barlow is a senior writer at BU Today and Bostonia magazine. Perhaps the only native of Trenton, N.J., who will volunteer his birthplace without police interrogation, he graduated from Dartmouth College, spent 20 years as a small-town newspaper reporter, and is a former Boston Globe religion columnist, book reviewer, and occasional op-ed contributor. Profile

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