You will need to fill out a membership and dues authorization form in order to participate in the ratification vote. After filling out the membership card and dues authorization, a ballot will be sent to your personal email within a day.

A simple majority of “yes” votes is necessary for the TA to be adopted as the contract; otherwise, the TA will not take effect, and we return to bargaining.

In order for you to make an informed vote, we present to you the following documents:

• Final Tentative Agreement: This includes all the contract language that would be adopted if the contract is ratified. We encourage all members to review the entire agreement.
• Detailed Summary of the TA: This is an overview by each article included in the TA.
• 1 page Summary of the TA: This is a high-level summary of the major wins in the TA.
• Ratification Vote FAQ: This provides answers to commonly asked questions about the TA and ratification process.

The Bargaining Committee endorses this TA and will be holding two town halls to discuss the TA and answer any questions.

• Friday, August 18 from 3:30-5pm on Zoom. RSVP here to get the Zoom link.
• Friday, August 25 from 3:30-5pm in Salisbury 305.

Fill out your membership and dues authorization card now!

If you have any questions about the ratification vote or the TA, please email wpi.gwu@gmail.com or you can text or call a member of the Bargaining Committee at (508)-859-0692 between 8am and 7pm.

In Solidarity,

Your WPI-GWU Bargaining Committee

Sabine Hahn, Andrew McReynolds, Abhinav Gandhi, Jake Scarponi, & Gabriela Rovi

Yesterday, our bargaining session went all day as we passed rounds of counters back and forth with the University. We reached a tentative agreement after 8pm last night. This resolved all outstanding issues and means we have a full tentative agreement on the whole contract. We will have a full copy of the TA’d contract properly written up prior to the ratification vote.

Summary of yesterday’s TA package:

• Compensation

• Healthcare
  • WPI pay 100% of premium for salaried GWs for individual plan and WPI pay twice the single premium for family coverage
  • No reduction of benefit or increase costs for health insurance for life of contract without mutual agreement by Union and University
  • Creation of joint Union and WPI taskforce to provide recommendation on plan design
  • Union representation at the student advisory committee for health insurance
  • No dental and vision premiums covered by WPI, voluntary/optional dental and vision coverage still available
• Fees
  • Guarantee that no new fees or increase of fees for life of contract, excluding grad activities fee
• Parking and Transit
  • Salaried GWs waiver for parking fee or reimbursement of WRTA semester pass up to the cost of parking fee
  • Transportation to UMass Medical Center for work at no cost to GW
• Childcare
  • No childcare fund
  • If WPI creates benefits for other any other employees, they will be given to GWs
  • Changing tables for Gateway, Sagamore and Unity
• 4 year contract duration

Read all articles from yesterday’s TA here. Please note: This represents all that was agreed upon during yesterday’s session, but not the entire collective bargaining agreement to be ratified.

We will be holding a Bargaining Town Hall on Friday, August 18 from 3:30-5pm on Zoom to discuss the TA and answer any questions. RSVP here to get the Zoom link. We will hold another Town Hall on Friday, August 25 3:30-5pm in Salisbury 305.

The next step in the process is for members to vote to ratify the whole tentative agreement. We will send out a separate ratification email to all graduate workers with more details, a copy of the full Tentative Agreement, and a link to the membership and dues authorization card, which must be completed in order to vote on the agreement itself. The ratification vote will kick off after Friday’sTown Hall and will remain open through Wednesday, August 30th at 11:59pm. The bargaining committee is presenting this agreement with the recommendation to vote yes, and we are committed to having open and honest discussions on why we are making this recommendation. We encourage every member to review the terms of the entire agreement in detail.  

To that end, if you have questions about the TA before you vote and want to speak directly with a Bargaining Committee member ASAP, you can call or text us at (508) 859-0692. Alternatively, you can still send an email to wpi.gwu@gmail.com, although this may take us slightly longer to respond to.

In Solidarity,

Your WPI-GWU Bargaining Committee

Sabine Hahn, Andrew McReynolds, Abhinav Gandhi, Jake Scarponi, & Gabriela Rovi

WPI IS ANTI-FAMILY. While WPI did offer improvements to parental leave, leave is worthless if having a child results in bankruptcy. They continue to reject ANY reimbursement of childcare costs in MA–the most expensive state in the country for childcare–which are prohibitive to starting a family, to say nothing of those that already have children. WPI refuses to implement changing tables in the majority of buildings with grad worker offices.

THEY DON’T CARE ABOUT YOUR HEALTH. WPI refuses to guarantee improvements to the existing healthcare plan, or even to maintain the existing plan as a compromise–the same plan that has helped inspire us to organize in the first place. WPI refuses to pay premiums for dental and vision insurance; we offered a compromise through a healthcare reimbursement fund to help those with serious healthcare costs, and even that has been rejected. They continue  to ignore grad workers with health care needs, including those with chronic health concerns and who need mental health care, reproductive health care and gender-affirming care. 

THEY DON’T CARE IF YOU GO INTO DEBT. According to WPI’s proposals, hourly workers will be making near-minimum wages with no raises built through the contract. We saw no movement this morning on stipends, and WPI has once again asserted a loophole in guaranteeing no security on fees, which allows them to increase fees to cancel any raises we win. WPI has no reason to take such a repetitive stance unless they want the freedom to reduce any raises we win through new and increased fees–we are not willing to accept an agreement that offers no security on wages whatsoever.

Read WPI’s latest proposal here    |    Read our latest proposal here

After THREE bargaining sessions on July 17th, 19th, and 20th this week, the university’s bargaining team continued to reject our major proposals on childcare benefits, health insurance, and wages – among other things. Our bargaining committee has continually made significant movements in the outstanding package of proposals, but WPI isn’t willing to budge. We consistently hear that we don’t need these benefits – which means that they do not care about us. We verbally reasserted our last proposal today and told them to come back with something better next week as we walked out of today’s session. It’s not just the bargaining committee’s time that’s being wasted – it’s all of our time. We deserve a fair contract with significant improvements that address our outstanding issues. 

In Solidarity, 

Your WPI-GWU Bargaining Committee

Sabine Hahn, Andrew McReynolds, Abhinav Gandhi, Jake Scarponi, & Gabriela Rovi

The Bargaining Committee met with WPI administration on Wednesday (7/12); where we presented our economics package to their team (see our package here). To see what their last offer was on 6/28, you can check it out here, as well as all prior proposals here. During the bargaining session, we presented all outstanding proposals. At this time, given the limited time for their team to discuss and provide a counter-offer, we do not have any further proposals from their team. However, we reached tentative agreements on both Appointments and Non-Resident/Non-Citizen Worker Rights and Protections, which inches us closer to a contract!

WPI has been trying to pressure us into finishing up this contract quickly on their terms, saying that there will be more administrative work to make adjustments and we will have to be paid negotiated raises retroactively if we do not complete the contract by 7/15. While we would like to have a contract completed as soon as possible, we are not willing to accept any economics package that lacks financial security and protections. In an effort to move negotiations quicker, we have agreed to schedule a bargaining session for this upcoming Monday, July 17th, to hear their counter-offer to our proposals from this last session.

Interested in joining the effort to help us win an amazing first contract? Have ideas for a kickass strategy? Fill out this short sign-up to help organize! Always feel free to reach out, and otherwise, look out for communications from organizers.

In solidarity,

Your WPI-GWU Bargaining Committee
Andrew McReynolds, Sabine Hahn, Gabriela Rovi, Abhinav Gandhi & Jake Scarponi

TLDR: The bargaining committee met with WPI on Wednesday (6/28); it was their turn to show us an economic package. PRESSURE MADE THEM MOVE, BUT STILL NO LIVING WAGE, GUARANTEED RAISES, SAY IN HEALTH INSURANCE, OR CHILD CARE BENEFIT – OVERALL NO SECURITY. We know they can do better; the fact that they moved to where they are shows that. Sign on to tell admin we need these improvements and that a majority of grad workers demand a fair contract NOW. General meeting is postponed for now, but you can still RSVP for a Zoom link here.

The Bargaining Committee met with WPI administration on Wednesday (6/28); WPI brought another disappointing economics package to the table (check it out here). They handed us a few other proposals, we gave them two, and the following day they gave them right back with some changes; you can see all of the proposals here. While we’ve definitely had some monumental and kickass wins during negotiations and the standout at the last bargaining session clearly had an effect, WPI has not brought a fair economics package to the table. WPI’s proposals included: 

• Salaried min of $37,500 for a 12 month appointment, but only if your PI can afford it for RAs
• No guarantee annual raises, tying these to what other WPI employees receive (which could be nothing)
• Hourly pay rates of at least $16 for non-research hourly GWs and at least $20 for hourly RAs
• No fee waivers, leaving the door wide open for new or greatly increased fees 
• No guaranteed say in determining health insurance plans in the future
  • WPI included language that we could bargain over the impacts if the plan gets worse or more expensive, but this is something we already have a legal right to
• No coverage of dental and vision premiums for salaried GWs
• No childcare subsidy or financial support for childcare costs
• No coverage of parking or transit costs for GWs

The bottom line is that WPI’s proposal offers you no financial security. This is unacceptable and we need to show WPI that a majority of graduate workers demand a fair contract now! 

Sign onto our public petition to demand the administration stop dragging their feet on our most critical issues and respond to our reasonable demands for a fair union contract – we cannot wait any longer! With a majority of union members signed on, the bargaining committee can approach our next bargaining session ready to show WPI admin just how many grad workers are fed up and why we need a fair contract now as we put our next economic package in front of them. After all, we don’t think WPI wants to find out how truly indispensable we are.

Interested in joining the effort to help us win an amazing first contract? Have ideas for a kickass strategy? Fill out this short sign-up to help organize! Always feel free to reach out, and otherwise, look out for communications from organizers. The next general membership meeting is  postponed for now, but you can still  RSVP here for a Zoom link (also, feel free to use this Google calendar to see all our currently planned meetings at once).

In solidarity,

Your WPI-GWU Bargaining Committee
Jake Scarponi, Andrew McReynolds, Sabine Hahn, Gabriela Rovi & Abhinav Gandhi

Your bargaining committee met with WPI’s bargaining team Wednesday (5/31) to receive the University’s latest proposed economic package and present our own counter-proposals on Appointments and Non-Citizen/Non-Resident Graduate Worker Rights and Protections; you can look at every proposal in chronological order here. We’re still in agreement on some items in the package (Food Security, Tax Assistance, Emergency Grant, and Housing); the University once again rejected our Subcontracting proposal, but has accepted our VCAP proposal. We have yet to reach an agreement on:

• Childcare
• Health Benefits
• Tuition and Fees
• Compensation
• Titles and Classifications
• Leaves, Holidays, and Vacation

Let’s cut to the chase: WPI has offered 3 tiers of pay, NONE of which cross the living wage threshold, or even come CLOSE. The administration wants us to accept the status quo and pretend that an “advisory committee” has any say in the terms of our health insurance–it HAS NOT and NEVER WILL if they have their way.

Moreover, new language in their proposals says that if a grant “can’t” fund a wage increase, the raise will simply be given according to what it “can” fund–who decides this, and how? How will we ensure money is distributed fairly? This is hugely problematic; despite the fact that the raises WPI has offered are insultingly low, management now wants to insert new language that offers NO GUARANTEE WHATSOEVER THAT RESEARCH ASSISTANTS GET A RAISE IN THE FIRST PLACE.

We’ve continued to stress the desperate need for these improvements amongst our members, and tried to modify language and proposals to address the University’s concerns. It’s clear that the administration is dragging their feet on wages to try to force us to take concessions on health benefits, but we WILL NOT give this up.

The administration has shown us that it’s time to escalate our fight for a fair contract. We need to engage in collective action now to show WPI that we don’t just need this contract, we DEMAND it. In a first step to that end, we’re signing onto a public petition to demand the administration stop dragging their feet on our most critical issues and respond to our reasonable demands for a fair union contract–we cannot wait any longer! With a majority of union members signed on, the bargaining committee can approach bargaining next week ready to win what we need.

Have concerns or thoughts you want to share? Want to know more and help your union strategize on how to move forward and secure a strong contract? Always feel free to reach out, and otherwise, look out for communications from your organizing committee. The next general membership meeting is  June 14th at 5PM (RSVP here for a Zoom link, and feel free to use this Google calendar to see all our currently planned meetings at once); the next bargaining session is also scheduled for June 14th.

In solidarity,

Your WPI-GWU Bargaining Committee
Jake Scarponi, Andrew McReynolds, Sabine Hahn, Gabriela Rovi & Abhinav Gandhi

The Bargaining Committee would like to extend our most heartfelt CONGRATULATIONS to the WPI-GWU members graduating this semester! We would like to celebrate you next week on our union social media (IG, Twitter), and we will have (FREE) “union pride” buttons at commencement for your regalia! If you are interested in being included in our social media shout out, please fill out this google form by 05/09/2023 so we can coordinate with you. Again, CONGRATS!

Your Bargaining Committee met with the University bargaining team on Wednesday (05/03) for the twelfth bargaining session. Over the course of three off-the-record conversations with the University on Non-Discrimination, we are proud to announce we have reached a tentative agreement on that article! Furthermore, we reached tentative agreements on FOUR MORE proposals: Job Postings, Health & Safety, Discipline & Discharge, and Workspace & Materials! HUGE day! Each proposal we reach an agreement on brings us closer to achieving improved working conditions and a better WPI for all. Check out our webpage for the latest proposals and their current stages.

In a previous update, we highlighted that, during bargaining, we can lump multiple proposals together as a package deal. The University team returned to the table with a new economics package yesterday in which they accepted some of our packaged proposals, but countered on others. Their economic package proposal included the following:

• Food Security (Accepted)
• Tax Assistance (Accepted)
• Emergency Grant (Accepted)
• Housing (Accepted)
• Childcare (Countered)
• Health Benefits (Countered)
• Tuition and Fees (Countered)
• Compensation (Countered)
• Titles and Classifications (Countered)
• Paid Time off (Countered)

Even though the University accepted a few proposals in the package, we are not accepting the package. Although we made good progress this time, WPI has yet to address several important issues, and continues to express unwillingness to move on them. These positions include:

• NO substantive improvements on health insurance
• NO guaranteed raises during the fourth year of the contract.
• NO paid days off between Christmas Day and New Years, during which the university is officially closed and all other employees are given time off
• NO tuition waivers for MS students.
• NO additional leave for immigration appointments, gender affirmation care, or family care
• Need help paying for childcare? You can have what faculty and staff receive – which the University has yet to describe to us

And finally, where we’ve moved over 10% from our initial proposal on stipends – in addition to many other concessions – WPI has chosen to bump up their initial offer by 2%. NO living wage has appeared from their side of the table.

Have concerns or thoughts you want to share? Want to know more and help your union strategize on how to move forward and secure a strong contract? Feel free to reach out, look out for communications from your organizing committee.

In solidarity,

Your WPI-GWU Bargaining Committee
Jake Scarponi, Andrew McReynolds, Sabine Hahn, Gabriela Rovi & Abhinav Gandhi

Your Bargaining Committee met with the University bargaining team on Thursday for the eleventh bargaining session. We reached a tentative agreement on another proposal: Employee Assistance Program (EAP)! High-five! Each proposal we reach an agreement on brings us closer to achieving improved working conditions and a better WPI overall. Check out our webpage for the latest proposals and their current stages.

As you likely remember, the economics counter the university administration proposed a couple weeks ago was incomplete and insulting. In bargaining, you can lump multiple proposals together as a package deal. Essentially, this means we can make concessions in some proposal topics to ensure a better deal in others (“we’ll give up X if you give us Y”). By presenting them together, this gives us the flexibility to make changes again without being regressive if our package is rejected – because they’re a package deal. Regressive bargaining means one side changes their mind on something they previously agreed on and is considered bad faith bargaining by the National Labor Relations Board. 

We countered some of those economic proposals this week by presenting two major packages: one for compensation and one for paid time-off. To bargain for a better Compensation article, we made some cuts to various other proposals including Retirement, Relocation, Food Security, Tax Assistance, Emergency Grant, Housing, and Child Care. We did a similar package deal with our Leaves, Holidays, and Vacation proposals. 

Unfortunately, while your bargaining committee is trying their best to make progress towards a fair contract, the University’s team presented some counter-proposals (Non-Resident & Non-Citizen Rights & Protections, Recognition, Health & Safety, Workspace & Materials, Appointments, Job Posting, Parking & Transit, No Strike/No Lockout, and Management’s Rights) including ones that are problematic. Highlights in their counters include but aren’t limited to:

• No just-cause protections
• No ability to organize a protest (even on non-WPI-GWU related matters) 
• Rejecting previously agreed upon language in multiple proposals
• No protections for pre-existing practices and no method to rectify problems that may not be initially covered by the agreement 
• Rejecting necessary measures that protect nearly 60% of our community 

Have concerns or thoughts you want to share? Want to know more and help your union strategize on how to move forward and secure a strong contract? Feel free to reach out, look out for communications from your organizing committee, and join us for our next general meeting on May 3rd at 5 PM in SL402 (RSVP here if you want to join via Zoom).  Click here to add to your calendar

In solidarity,Your WPI-GWU Bargaining Committee
Jake Scarponi, Andrew McReynolds, Sabine Hahn, Gabriela Rovi & Abhinav Gandhi

Hello all,

Your Bargaining Committee met with the University bargaining team on Wednesday for the tenth bargaining session. More exciting tentative agreements this time: Grievance and Arbitration, Training, Workload, and Union Security. Each proposal we reach an agreement on brings us closer to achieving improved working conditions and a better WPI overall. Check out our webpage for the latest proposals and their current stages.

The University’s team brought  four pages representing an unacceptable, incomplete economic package in response to our 15 detailed economic proposals. NO health insurance improvements; NO living wages for anyone in our Union; minimal sick leave and time off without the holidays that other employees at WPI are granted. When we asked for clarity on why their package was so lacking, the response to many of our questions came down to:

“Come to me with a reasonable counter.”

Does the University have reasons for rejecting so much of what we asked for, or are they simply pressuring us to accept as little as possible?

In addition to the four non-economic agreements, we presented various non-economic counters: Appointments, Job Postings, Subcontracting, Successorship, Management Rights, and No Strike No Lockout. Some of these are getting close, and we look forward to reaching more agreements soon. However, the University has not provided  any counters on our initial proposals (over 2 months ago) for Non-Resident and Non-Citizen Graduate Worker Rights and Protections and Titles & Classifications. 

We need the University to bring us reasonable, substantive counter proposals, and respect the proposals we bring to the table. Their presentation on economics suggests that their biggest goal is to pull us down as far as possible, which means that no matter how good our arguments are at the table, we won’t be able to win what we need without applying pressure away from the table. This is your call to action: if you want to secure better living conditions for you and your coworkers and create a better, more equitable WPI, join us in demanding the compensation we deserve as Graduate Workers at a highly esteemed technical institution. Look out for communications from your organizing committee, and join us as we plan public actions to demonstrate that WPI will give us what we need to survive.

In solidarity,

Your WPI-GWU Bargaining Committee
Jake Scarponi, Andrew McReynolds, Sabine Hahn, Gabriela Rovi & Abhinav Gandhi

TLDR; BIG MOVES MADE. Your Bargaining Committee (BC) proposed ALL economic proposals this week which includes compensation, health insurance, and more!

We need RAISES. We need better HEALTH CARE. We need PAID TIME OFF. You know it; we know it; and admin certainly knows it. Thursday (03/23), your bargaining committee presented these FIFTEEN economic proposals: Compensation, Tuition & Fees, Health Benefits, Paid Leaves, Tax Assistance, Holidays, Vacation, Housing, Childcare, Professional Development, Parking & Transit, Retirement, Emergency Grant, Relocation, and Food Security.

BUT WAIT! We’ve been trying to settle non-economic issues first – are we trading rights for money? NO. We’ve made huge headway on our non-economic proposals and your BC is confident with the conversations we’ve been having with both admin and YOU ALL that we’ll continue to move forward. Our power comes from YOU and we’ve been WINNING TOGETHER. Here’s a handful of things we’ve already won in our non-economic proposals:

• NO loss of appointment/funding if your PI leaves
• Guaranteed office/desk space
• Pre-payment for approved travel expenses and reimbursement for meals
• Trainings can be requested at no cost and will be considered part of workload
• Mental health and social justice issues ARE Health & Safety issues
• Workplace and workspace evaluations for unsafe/unhealthy working conditions
• Advance notice for construction & maintenance in our places of work
• Protections from being required to work overtime and at unreasonable hours
• Centralized website for in-unit salary & hourly job postings accessible to all graduate students
• Appointment letters with job information 60 days in advance for salaried positions

In addition to presenting the economic package we all deserve and require, your BC has been working hard at the table to negotiate the strongest contract ASAP by proposing two more counters (Health & Safety and Workspace & Materials) and reaching two more tentative agreements (Travel and Appointment Security)!

Admin presented three counter-proposals (Discipline & Dismissal, Grievance & Arbitration, and Job Posting). We’ve been scheduling informal conversations with admin outside of bargaining sessions to try and resolve differences on certain proposals faster, because WPI Graduate Workers deserve better.

Our next bargaining session with the University will be on April 5th. On the same day, we will have our monthly general meeting (the first Wednesday of every month) in Salisbury Labs 402 at 5 PM where union members are welcome to come ask questions, bring suggestions, or discuss any other issues. Please email us if you have any additional questions or concerns about bargaining!

In solidarity,

Your WPI-GWU Bargaining Committee
Jake Scarponi, Andrew McReynolds, Sabine Hahn, Gabriela Rovi & Abhinav Gandhi