Update on GSU negotiations

Dear colleagues and students,

I am writing to update you on the status of MIT’s negotiations with the MIT Graduate Student Union (GSU) toward a new contract.

As I wrote five weeks ago, MIT began negotiations with the GSU on April 24. The teams have already held five bargaining sessions.

Last week MIT offered the GSU a 12-month contract extension, along with an immediate 3% raise for all union members (parallel to the raise in graduate student fellow stipends announced earlier). Our intention was to provide immediate economic relief for students and to create stability for the next year as the teams continue to negotiate.

Unfortunately, the GSU declined MIT’s offer at the bargaining table on Monday and chose not to bring the offer to its members for consideration. As a result, students in the bargaining unit will not receive a raise until a new agreement is reached.

It’s important for you to know that while MIT’s collective bargaining agreement (CBA) with the GSU has now expired, as of May 31, most of the terms of that contract will remain in effect until a new contract is signed.

Other things you should know:

• GSU members will continue to be paid and to receive benefits as before.
• Contract expirations are common during collective bargaining, because negotiating a new CBA takes time — sometimes more than a year. Disagreements between the bargaining teams are common, and some may take weeks, if not months, to resolve.
• The GSU’s bargaining team has sought to incorporate academic matters into the contract and has focused on issues previously settled by the National Labor Relations Board. MIT has made clear that these items fall outside of the required topics of negotiation and are therefore not on the table for the Institute.
• In response to our 12-month extension, the GSU proposed a 3-month extension, which was not acceptable to MIT since we desire a longer-term resolution, especially in a period of significant research funding uncertainty.
• Under the terms of the expired contract, MIT will continue to deduct union dues and agency fees from the paychecks of graduate student workers unless the individual has revoked their dues/fees check-off card. Graduate students who have questions about check-off revocation should contact gradunionquestions@mit.edu.

Looking ahead

Graduate students are a vital part of the MIT community. We have a deep responsibility to ensure that all of our students have the resources they need to thrive while keeping the interests of the entire Institute community in mind.

We look forward to continuing to meet and bargain in good faith with the GSU bargaining team. I will keep you updated on our progress.

If you have any questions in the meantime, please reach out to gradunionquestions@mit.edu for assistance, or visit grad-union.mit.edu for information about the bargaining process.

Sincerely,

Dave

David L. Darmofal
Vice Chancellor for Graduate and Undergraduate Education
Jerome B. Wiesner Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics