The Coalition of Graduate Employees had two days to vote on whether to accept the tentative agreement made with Oregon State University representatives on Friday; the vote passed Monday with 93% of union members saying “yes”.
According to a statement by OSU Provost and Executive Vice President Edward Feser, the agreement includes a 13% raise to salary minimums, effective Sep. 16, 2024, with returning employee increases of 3% in 2024, 2.85% in 2025, 2.75% in 2026 and 2% in 2027.
The agreement also includes a three-year Term of agreement—effective from Sep. 16, 2024, to Dec. 31, 2027—with a Letter of Agreement between the Union and the university to resolve accurate time reporting during the strike to allow for retroactive salary increases.
Other parts of the agreement include graduate employee benefits such as 90% employer-paid premium healthcare plans, full tuition remission and fee remissions.
“I want to once again express how appreciative President Murthy and I are of OSU’s students, graduate employees, academic faculty, professional faculty, public safety professionals and leadership for their efforts and patience throughout this process,” Feser said in the statement. “We especially thank the bargaining teams for their work on this critically important collective bargaining process.”
According to CGE President Austin Bosgraaf, the graduate union strike—which has been going on since Nov. 12—is over effective immediately and graduate students are going back to work.
“Our membership fought hard to get this term of agreement, which allows graduates to have a say in their working conditions throughout their time at OSU,” Bosgraaf said in an email. “Corvallis is consistently the most rent burdened city in the state, and this raise begins to address that gap for many of our lowest paid graduate workers.”
Bosgraaf said that the agreement would not be possible without the membership of CGE.
“We saw over 900 graduate workers participate in picketing and other visible actions in addition to withholding their labor,” Bosgraaf said. “Union leadership is extremely proud of the power we’ve demonstrated, and the way that graduates, faculty, undergraduates, and community members stood in solidarity with us during this time.”
Bosgraaf said that graduate employees are “excited” to get back to serving their students and producing the research OSU is known for while getting paid more fairly for the labor they provide.
The CGE went on strike on Nov. 12 after months of negotiating. CGE was originally looking for a 50% raise to the minimum, and OSU was at 8%. CGE represents over 1,700 Graduate Employees and has been established for 25 years but this was the first union strike at OSU.
“We believe that CGE’s direct actions played a key role in moving the university during these negotiations, and we will have to see the vote through before we know how members feel about the agreement,” Bosgraaf said. “We will keep fighting for our workers and organizing for the next contract cycle.”
OSU said they are hopeful to share further details over the coming days, according to Lanesha Reagan, strategic communications and public affairs manager at OSU.
