The current contract we’ve agreed to with NMSU is a step in the right direction, but it is NOT sufficient to meet the needs of NMSU graduate students. The fight continues for the Administration to see reason.
DEFINITIONS:
- Bargaining Unit: The Bargaining Unit includes all graduate students holding assistantships at the NMSU main campus and branch campuses.
- Bargaining Unit Member / Employee: A Bargaining Unit Member is anyone covered by this contract (all Graduate Assistants, Teaching Assistants, and Research Assistants).
- Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) or Union Contract: An agreement between a union and the employer, different from an assistantship contract which is between the individual and the University.
- “Just cause”: A legal standard that requires employers to provide notice, reasonable rules, a fair investigation, proof, and equal treatment when issuing any discipline.
- Reopener: A re-negotiation on a select number of articles of the contract. This contract includes a reopener on tuition in Spring 2023 and on compensation/wages in Fall 2023.
- Ratification: Finalization of a contract that is approved by both sides of a negotiation.
- FTE / Full Time Equivalent: Refers to the hours you are paid to work. If you are employed full time, then you are working at 1 FTE = 40 hours/week. Most assistantships are 0.5 FTE = 20 hours per week, and the remaining 20 hours are for your student responsibilities.
You can read summaries of each section of the agreement below.
ARTICLES:
- Article 5. Compensation:
- 6.8% increase to each graduate worker’s salary the second pay period following ratification (i.e. the start of next semester). This increase applies regardless of if you currently make the minimum or more than the minimum.
- RAs are included in these increases, dependent on available funds. If an RA does not receive the full increase at the start of the semester and continues over the summer, they will receive the full increase no later than July 1st. We anticipate RAs will likely receive the same increase based on past practice at the University, but are prepared to fight this through the grievance process if need be. The salary table for graduate assistants (G1, G2, G3) will increase by 6.8% at the start of next semester (again with the exception that RA increases will be dependent on available funds) and will apply to all continuing and new graduate workers (including RAs with no qualifiers) by Fall 2023. We will negotiate again for increased compensation between September 1st and November 1st, 2023.
- What’s most important about this article: Graduate workers will receive raises and instead of waiting for the University to decide to grant raises if/when they feel like it, we have a predictable schedule for negotiating more increases every year. The Union will have an opportunity every year to renegotiate minimum stipends and annual raises. We will be negotiating again for increases between Sep. 1 and Nov. 1 of 2023 (less than 9 months from now).
- Article 8. Tuition / Scholarship
- Starting with the Spring 2023 semester and thereafter there will be a minimum guarantee of 2 credits of tuition and fee coverage (or $650 dollars, whichever is greater).
- This is a minimum and does not prevent departments/advisors from offering additional funding for tuition.
- If you receive scholar dollars greater than the total (~$686), under the current contract you will not receive additional benefits.
- If you receive scholar dollars less than the total, under the current contract you will receive a benefit equal to the maximum minus your current scholarship (i.e if you receive $500 in scholar dollars you would receive an additional $186). If receive no scholar dollars you are entitled to the maximum (assuming you are taking at least 2 credits)
- If you receive scholarships/ tuition benefits outside of Scholar Dollars, you are entitled to the full amount.
- What’s most important about this article: Because of NMSU’s failure to address the tuition crisis, we are taking our fight for full tuition coverage to the state legislature in January 2023. We will reopen negotiations after the legislative session ends in March 2023 so that we can ensure any money NMSU receives for tuition goes to graduate workers. NMSU has committed to working with the union to advocate for funding for graduate tuition coverage
- Article 6. Benefits – International Student Health Insurance
- International students will receive $100 at the start of the Spring semester to offset health insurance costs.
- What’s important about this article: The University has stated that they intend to seek other health insurance providers for next year. We are also working with the state of New Mexico to create new regulations allowing international students to receive insurance through the state. If NMSU switches providers or the state makes new rules, we will seek a new agreement (called an MOA) to further reduce international health insurance fees.
- Article 9. Appointment Contract Letters
- Bargaining unit members will now be provided with a written employment letter at least fourteen (14) days prior to their assignment start date. Employment letters will include assistantship type, appointment percentage (FTE), duration of employment, a general description of the duties, and compensation information.
- Bargaining unit members may still receive employment letters less than fourteen (14) days prior to the start date in the event of a late hire or creation of new assistantships.
- What is important about this article: allows for more transparency when accepting a graduate position, with a clear description of duties, expectations, and compensation.
- Article 10. Workload
- This article defines the hours bargaining unit members are paid to work, which will protect from being required to work hours well above the assigned FTE. For example, a 0.50 FTE is expected to work (on average) 20 hours per week. While you may be required to work a few hours less or more during certain weeks, you may not be asked to routinely work several hours over (e.g. 30 hours every week).
- What is important about this article: This article provides graduate workers with some protection from being asked to work hours that are well beyond their assigned FTE. Bargaining unit members may reference this article to their supervisors in the event of any workload related issues.
- Article 13. Grievance
- Allows a process for disputing a violation of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, appealing discipline/discharge, and addressing violations of any other University policies applying to graduate workers.
- What can be grieved?: Any time the university does not properly apply this contract, university policies, or federal, state, or local laws
- Timeline: All steps in this process have a time limit on choosing to advance to the next step.
- The initial step requires that you begin the first step (or skip to the second) within 10 business days of the time when you knew or should have known that a grievable event occurred
- Representation: You are entitled to have a union representative present at each step of this process.
- Legal Options: You maintain the right to pursue legal action outside of the grievance (for example for a Title Nine issue. You may pursue both simultaneously. The major advantage of the grievance process is that it will move more quickly than most other options and ends with third party arbitration if need be.
- Steps in the Grievance Process:
- Informal Step: If you have been wrongfully treated based on university policies or this contract, you may meet with your department head in an effort to reach a fair resolution. This in informal and does not initiate the grievance – there is a 10 business day time limit on moving to step 1 that begins when you knew or should have known about the grievance not from the conclusion of the informal step.
- Step 1: You may begin the process at Step 1, skipping the informal step or if you are unsatisfied with the outcome of the informal step. To initiate this step you must file a written grievance to your college Dean within 10 business days of the event. The Dean will respond–if the response is not adequate for you, you may proceed to step 2. You must proceed to step 2 within 10 business days of receiving the Dean’s decision
- Step 2: If you are unsatisfied with the dean’s decision you may move to step 2. It is initiated by sending a written grievance to the provost within 10 business days of receiving the dean’s decision. The final arbitration step must be initiated within 20 business days of receiving the provosts decision. We recommend you contact the union as soon as you start the grievance process even if you don’t want a union representative.
- Arbitration Step: If you are not satisfied with the provost’s decision you may initiate the final step of the grievance process. You have 20 business days from the date you receive the provost’s decision to initiate this step.For this step an impartial arbitrator will be selected jointly with the university to make a final, binding decision on the grievance. This step incurs a significant cost which will be split by both parties (grievant and University). If both you and the members of the union vote to advance to arbitration, the union will split arbitration costs with the University.
- What does this article mean? We now have a means to force the university to obey their policies and our contract. Individual workers or a group of workers may file grievances.The grievance process is the enforcement mechanism for every aspect of our contract. The University spent months of negotiations arguing they should not give up any power and should be able to file grievances against us but we prevailed in ensuring a fair grievance process to equalize power.
- Article 18. Non-Discrimination
- This article prohibits NMSU from discriminating on the basis of any state or federal protection including, but not limited to, “age, ancestry, color, disability, gender identity, genetic information, national origin, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, spousal affiliation, protected veteran status”.
- Whats important about this article: binding written protections from discrimination, including protecting international students, was one of the key non-economic priorities from our membership wide vote in June.
Summaries of the remaining articles, in numerical order:
- Article 1. Agreement
- Spells out who this agreement is between: NMSU as the “University” and the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America as the “Union”.
- Article 2. Union Recognition
- Defines who may be part of our bargaining unit and who is covered by the contract (Teaching Assistants, Graduate Assistants, Research Assistants at all NMSU campuses).
- Article 3. Management Rights
- This spells out the rights of the university–nothing new here.
- Article 4. Union Rights
- This spells out the expectations for the Union and university coexisting. Membership in the Union is strictly voluntary. Union dues for union members will be collected from your paycheck once you’ve signed a new membership card.
- Article 7. Leave
- Defines possible reasons to request leave but places the responsibility of gaining leave on the individual bargaining unit member and their advisor.
- Article 11. Academic Requirements
- If you are in your last semester, you may file a request for a waiver to just take 1 credit hour (rather than the full-time 9 credit hour requirement)–this is already university policy.
- If you are in a PhD program and have completed courses and competency exams, in your second to last semester you may file a request for a waiver to take 6 credit hours.
- Article 12. Disciplinary Action
- Provides that Discipline must be for Just Cause. Just Cause is a legal standard that requires employers to provide notice, reasonable rules, a fair investigation, proof, and equal treatment when issuing any discipline.
- What’s important about this article: The inclusion of Just Cause in our contract is a key achievement in protecting graduate workers from arbitrary or unfair discipline. Remember – as a graduate worker in a unionized workplace you have the right to have a steward present in any discussion that could lead to discipline.
- Article 14. Health and Safety
- The University commits to providing a safe working environment that complies with State and Federal laws. If there is a safety issue that is not resolved by the immediate supervisor, we may request a labor management meeting to address the safety concerns.
- Article 15. Drug and Alcohol Testing
- We agree to comply with NMSU rules regarding drugs and alcohol. We’re not allowed to drink or use drugs recreationally at work. We are also not allowed to use controlled substances on campus outside of work.
- Article 16. Duty to Cooperate
- The parties agree to cooperate to work towards creating a work environment that is respectful, responsive, efficient, and accountable within NMSU, recognizing a party’s economic constraints.
- Article 17. International Student Labor Management
- The Union President and the Dean of Graduate Studies or designee agree to meet at the written request of either party to discuss matters of concern to international graduate students holding an assistantship. The request for such meeting shall contain a recommended agenda of items to be discussed. The Union and the University will each select up to five (5) representatives to participate in each meeting.
- What’s important about this article: International students will now have a forum to directly discuss issues that are relevant to them directly with the university. Topics may include academic issues, work related issues, or lifestyle issues like access to housing, transportation, or campus culture.
- Article 19. Complete and Entire Agreement
- This article closes bargaining on issues that were not included in the contract, excluding the reopeners described above on Tuition and Compensation. This article also stipulates that we can negotiate additional MOAs/MOUs (side agreements) if the parties agree to do so.
- Article 20. Severability
- All articles in the agreement are subject to law and can be invalidated if the law changes. All other articles will not be affected if this occurs to a single article and would remain in effect.What’s important about this article: If the law invalidates a particular article (for example health insurance regulation) we renegotiate that article and the rest of the contract remains in effect while we do.
- Article 21. Duration
- This is a 2-year contract, from Jan 2023 to Jan 2025. We will renegotiate tuition in Spring 2023, wages in Fall 2023, and an entire new contract Fall of 2024. This contract was ratified by the members on Friday, December 16.