Information regarding GSU negotiations and possible strike

TL;DR

• The MIT Graduate Student Union (GSU) has issued a statement that if a contract is not signed by Thursday, November 12, they will strike.
• Negotiations remain ongoing.
• Graduate student workers have the right to strike under federal labor law. But the decision to participate in a strike remains up to each individual GSU member.
• Union members who do not work during a strike, however, are not entitled to pay for the days they do not work.
• During a strike, all students must continue to make satisfactory academic progress.
• MIT leaders have been working with faculty and staff to make sure teaching and research activities can continue.
• We have prepared an FAQ to help answer questions.

Dear members of the MIT community,

Last month, members of the MIT Graduate Student Union (GSU) voted to authorize a strike. The GSU has since announced that a strike will begin on Thursday, November 12, if an agreement is not reached on a new contract with MIT. 

Representatives of MIT and the GSU have met 17 times since April to work toward a new contract. Through productive and good faith bargaining between the MIT and GSU teams, tentative agreements have been reached on a variety of important issues, including grievance procedures, nondiscrimination, workload, and childcare.

However, the teams remain apart on some key issues, including compensation and union security. In this process, MIT has been guided by its responsibility to serve our entire community. You can read summaries of the negotiation sessions, still ongoing, on the graduate student unionization website. 

Student Rights and Expectations

While it is not clear exactly what a strike would entail or how many members of the GSU would participate, unionized graduate student workers have the right to strike under federal labor law. And under federal labor law, the decision of whether or not to participate in a strike remains up to each GSU member; union members are not required to strike.

Graduate student workers who continue to work during a strike will continue to be paid and receive all regular benefits. Graduate student workers who do not work during a strike, however, are not entitled to pay for days when they do not work. 

While a strike concerns work that graduate students do in connection with their RA, TA, and IG appointments, their academic obligations as students remain in effect whether or not they participate in the strike. Moreover, during a strike, all MIT students must continue to make satisfactory academic progress.

Continuity of Teaching, Research, and Operations 

To prepare for a strike, we have been working with faculty, instructors, and staff across all of our departments to make sure that teaching and research activities at MIT can continue. Additionally, teams from MIT Emergency Management and the Environment, Health, and Safety Office would help to ensure operational continuity by assisting with lab access, maintenance, safety, and supplies.

Resources

We prepared an FAQ to help answer questions you may have, including guidance for graduate students, faculty and supervisors, and researchers. These FAQs, posted to https://grad-union.mit.edu, will be updated as new questions come in and will be the most up-to-date and definitive source for information. Please send any additional questions to gradunionquestions@mit.edu.

As we enter this unsettled period, we encourage everyone in our community to be sensitive to, and respectful of, a variety of viewpoints—one of the hallmarks of MIT’s core values.

Sincerely,

Anantha Chandrakasan
Provost

Melissa Nobles
Chancellor