Quick Explainer

  • Quick Explainer: Mediation

    In yesterday’s bargaining session with NYU, we offered to enter mediation, on certain terms. Here’s why: First, what is mediation? In bargaining mediation, a third party is brought in to help reach an agreement for a contract. The mediator meets with us and the university separately, and relays our respective proposals and responses. Mediation…

  • Quick Explainer: Tuition Waiver for Master’s students

    If you missed our previous quick explainers: living wage, health care, protection for international & immigrant workers, Cops off Campus, and Strike Vote #RealTalk.  TODAY IS THE LAST DAY TO VOTE YES IN THE STRIKE AUTHORIZATION VOTE.Also, scroll down to see a solidarity message from Tech Workers Coalition NYC. What we have now  A small percentage of Master’s grad workers…

  • Quick Explainer: Why is Cops Off Campus a Workplace Health & Safety Concern?

    What are the health and safety risks associated with cops? -Grad workers have given many testimonials about being harassed by police while on campus. -Currently, NYPD can enter campus buildings without a warrant. NYPD in and around NYU buildings are regularly spotted without wearing masks or proper PPE and have responded aggressively when asked to put…

  • Quick Explainer: Your protected rights to vote YES as international & immigrant workers

    If you missed our previous quick explainers: living wage & health care. What we have now Our current contract does not stipulate any financial or legal assistance or civic protections to our international and immigrant graduate workers. International and immigrant workers make up 40% of our membership, and given NYU’s rising status as a “global university,” we believe that our…

  • Quick Explainer: What’s the deal with Health Care?

    If you missed our quick explainer yesterday on living wage, here it is.  TL;DR: The high enrollment & out-of-pocket costs of our current health care plan leave graduate workers with hundreds to thousands of dollars in medical costs, which is especially discriminatory toward those who are chronically ill. We’re asking the university to automatically enroll students in the…

  • Quick Explainer: What is a living wage in NYC?

    What we have now The current minimum rate for hourly grad workers is $20/hour. An employee working 20 hours a week—the most permitted at NYU—earns just $400 a week before taxes. What NYU is offering NYU’s current proposal would raise the minimum hourly rate by only $1 in the first year of the contract.…

  • Quick Explainer: We already have benefits. Why are we bargaining for more?

    “Our current contract gives us protections and benefits: we have 90% health care coverage, and a 20/hr wage. So why vote to authorize a potential strike and rock the boat?’” Let’s not forget that the benefits we have now are a direct result of the Strike Authorization Vote in 2015 and that we won…