Grad workers,

Yesterday we came to the table, presented proposals, and discussed them with University administration for 1 hour and 55 minutes. In the last 5 minutes of the meeting we were handed an undemocratic take-it-or-leave-it contract proposal, completely disregarding the previous 2 hours of negotiation. They made this proposal and expected us to accept it, without even hearing from the concerns we have about our working conditions. This is undemocratic, and not an appropriate way to bargain.

The bottom line from Northeastern’s proposal: They will keep dictating our lives and ignore the 94% of us that voted for change. Here’s just some of what they proposed for us:

  1. Being paid poverty wages? Some grad workers may not get raises at all. (Article IV)
  2. Have a spouse or kids? When it comes to healthcare or childcare, you’re out of luck. (Article XI)
  3. Being harassed by a professor? You will receive no additional protections not required by the bare minimum of the law. (Article XVII)
  4. Are you an international grad worker? There’s no recognition of your specific needs and protections in this contract at all – in fact, the word “international” doesn’t show up once in their proposal.

Take a look for yourself, and let us know what else you find to be lacking.

What’s Next: WE CONTINUE TO FIGHT FOR A STRONG CONTRACT!

Until we unionized, Northeastern never seemed to care about our well being enough to compensate us fairly– don’t be fooled into thinking that they’ll start now.

In Solidarity,

Your Bargaining Committee
Chloe Bennett, Population Health
Niki Thomas, Bioengineering
Shahinaz Geneid, Law and Criminology & Criminal Justice
Sophia Sheng, Law
Sydney Purdue, College of Arts, Media, and Design (CAMD)
Tim Rupprecht, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Xenia Dragon, Computer Science
JD Foster, Sociology
Kevin Jun Ha, Sociology

Northeastern proposes an undemocratic contract