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CORNELL GRADUATE STUDENTS UNITED-UE LOCAL 300

We Recommend Ratification on our Tentative Agreement on April 8-10

On March 25, 2025 – exactly one year after we started bargaining – the CGSU-UE Bargaining Committee (BC) reached a full tentative agreement (TA) with the Cornell administration. We saw significant movement on major issues thanks to the mass participation of graduate workers in building a strike threat. We now bring this TA to the membership for a ratification vote, which will be held online from April 8 at 9 AM to April 10 at 8 PM. We are unanimously recommending ratification (YES) of this TA to the membership. 

To help navigate the content of the TA, the BC has assembled an article-by-article guide below. This guide details the major provisions of all 36 articles and provides some context about the article’s meaning and effects. The full text of each article is linked alongside its summary. We also highlight some of the main wins here. 

Our tentative agreement establishes industry-setting new rights and protections for graduate workers, including: 

  • The Union Security article with Union Shop (“Union Security and Check-Off”) will protect the strength and longevity of our union for years to come. 

  • The Discipline and Discharge article (“Discipline and Discharge”) ensures that employment-related discipline and discharge cannot take place without just cause, and pioneers protections for both academic and non-employment discipline. These historic protections put us at the cutting edge of the industry when it comes to Discipline and Discharge protections, and will lay the foundation for real protections against unjust discipline for graduate workers across the country.

  • The contract gives us the ability to enforce all of these wins through the grievance procedure, whereby workers whose contract rights are infringed can file a grievance (“Grievance Procedure”). The grievance procedure allows for the full, united force of our union to stand behind a worker.

  • The Appointment Security article has numerous wins, including funding provisions for every fall, spring, and summer term and access to transitional funding for interruptions in planned funding and to change special committee chairs. We are also the first graduate workers’ union to win academic due process, meaning that no graduate worker can be put into bad academic standing without clear feedback, an opportunity to improve their academic performance, and a fair evaluation ("Appointment Security"). 

  • The Workload article has a grievable workload clause that helps prevent graduate workers from being overworked, including workload protections for fifteen (15) hour a week averages ("Workload"). 

  • The International Employee Rights article is aimed at addressing the inequities international workers face in the United States.  It establishes that ISO must provide documents and respond to inquiries and provide accurate information in a timely manner. It also provides a pathway to receive exemptions from ITAP courses and exams (“International Employee Rights”).

The life-changing economic package includes:

  • Our total compensation increase for Year 1 at Ithaca and Geneva campuses is:

    • 3.9% increase on the 12-month base stipend (total: $47,004) (“Compensation”)

    • $544 Dental + Vision + Cornell Gym full subsidy (“benefits adjustment”) (“Medical Benefits”)

    • $1300 ratification bonus for this semester’s bargaining unit members (“Ratification Payment”)

    • $750 matriculation bonus for incoming PhD students in AY 25-26 (“Matriculation Support Payment”)

      • Total: 7.98% total compensation increase for current workers

  • Our total compensation increase for Year 2 at Ithaca and Geneva campuses is:

    • 2.9% increase on the 12-month base stipend (total: $48,367)

    • $544 Dental + Vision + Cornell Gym full subsidy (“benefits adjustment”)

    • $750 relocation and visa support for incoming PhD students in AY 26-27

  • Our total compensation increase for Year 1 at Cornell Tech is:

    • 3.9% increase on the 12-month base stipend (total $58,285)

    • $744 Dental + Vision + Cornell Gym full subsidy (“benefits adjustment”)

    • $1300 ratification bonus for this semester’s bargaining unit members 

    • $750 matriculation bonus for incoming PhD students in AY 25-26

      • Total: 7.54% total compensation increase for current workers

  • Our total compensation increase for Year 2 at Cornell Tech is:

    • 2.9% increase on the 12-month base stipend (total $59,975)

    • $744 Dental + Vision + Cornell Gym full subsidy (“benefits adjustment”)

    • $750 relocation and visa support for incoming PhD students in AY 26-27