The Graduate Teaching Fellows Federation Executive Council unanimously authorized a strike vote Tuesday night, which will take place at the end of June.
Tuesday’s decision was the first strike authorization by the GTFF since 1977 and is the beginning of a GTFF strike that would be the first in the University’s history.
The vote to strike will be held at the end of June, and if a minimum of 60 percent of the membership votes in favor of the strike, GTFF members could strike as soon as August.
A GTFF strike could have potentially dire repercussions for summer school students, because as many as half of summer classes are taught by Graduate Teaching Fellows.
The GTFF’s contract expired March 31, and the GTFF and the University have been in negotiations for the past seven months.
“Your bargaining team has practically given its blood to get this far,” GTFF negotiator Jey Strangfeld told the Executive Council during Tuesday’s meeting.
While there are four issues with the contract that remain unresolved, the main issue of contention involves student-fee subsidies for GTFs, according to a GTFF press
release. All GTFs are required to pay student fees.
The GTFF and the University have agreed to lower fees for GTFs from $275 per term to $230 per term, but the University wants to include a contractual stipulation that would mandate the fees return to $275 in 2006, when negotiations for a new contract open.
This issue is the final sticking point for the GTFF, and according to GTFF Negotiator Chris Goff and GTFF President Eric Lindgren, the union would likely sign the contract if the stipulation were removed. As of now, both have said the GTFF will likely strike.
The GTFF originally fought for wage increases, but the University would not grant them because of a wage freeze imposed by the governor.
“Because of the salary freeze, the next step to take is to ensure that GTFs get some sort of financial relief,” Goff said.
Director of Human Resources Linda King, the lead negotiator for the University’s bargaining team, said she was confident the issue would be resolved and a strike would be averted.
“I’m really hopeful that we’ll reach an agreement before it gets to that point,” she said.
At the meeting Tuesday, the Executive Council appeared adamant about keeping the stipulation out of the contract, lessening the chances that an agreement would be reached anytime soon.
“I don’t know how I could sign (the contract) and not just feel like I shoved it up the GTFF’s ass,” Strangfeld said at Tuesday’s meeting.
The GTFF said it feels the stipulation is an attempt by the University to get an upper hand on negotiations when the contract reopens in two years. If the stipulation is to stand, the parties would have to negotiate from a $275 starting point for fees rather than the $230 tentatively agreed upon for this contract.
“It’s a power play. They want to ensure that they’re in a position of advantage,” said Goff, adding that, “It’s not matter of money; It’s a matter of principle.”
GTFF negotiator David Cecil said that if the stipulation stands, the GTFF will have to ask for the fee subsidies again, making it more difficult for it to get the wage increase it wants.
King said she was uncomfortable discussing the stipulation issue because both sides are still bargaining it.
“I don’t want to get into all the points that are being bargained,” she said.
But King said such stipulations are not unusual in contracts and added that the stipulation will make negotiations “more flexible” in 2006.
“The University is interested in not tying its hands when in two years we may have more options,” she said.
The union and the University are still debating three additional issues, according to the GTFF. The first is whether the University should be able to hire graduate students without making them GTFs, a practice that is currently allowed. The second issue is whether masters students can be made level 2 GTFs. Level 2 GTFs get higher pay than level 1 GTFs. The University maintains the position that only doctorate students can be made level 2 GTFs, but the GTFF wants to establish different criteria for determining who can become a level 2 GTF. The third issue still in debate is University subsidies for student fees. The GTFF said it believes fees should by fully subsidized, but the University has only offered them subsidies of $45 per term so far.