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Members of the Stanford Graduate Workers Union, which is currently in talks with Stanford University to reach its first contract, have voted to authorize a strike. The strike authorization vote, which concluded on Wednesday, Nov. 6, passed with 89.3%, a clear majority of 2,317 votes, according to Fletcher Chapin, a member of the union’s bargaining committee.
This vote does not mean that the union will necessarily strike, but it gives the union’s bargaining committee the option to call a strike if they believe it to be necessary. If no agreement with Stanford is reached by Tuesday, Nov. 12, the union’s bargaining committee will call a strike.
SGWU’s bargaining committee also put Stanford’s Oct. 28 contract offer to a vote by the union’s general membership, which the union rejected. Chapin said that 94% of members who voted opted to reject the offer.
Both the union and the university have stated that they remain committed to focusing on productive negotiations and hope to avert a strike.
“Stanford remains focused on constructive negotiations with the union, and we have made a very strong and competitive offer, including on pay for graduate assistantships,” said Luisa Rapport, a spokesperson for Stanford in an email to this news organization. “We respect the union’s right to hold its strike authorization vote, but we are hopeful that the focus will remain on making progress at the negotiating table so that our graduate workers can realize the benefits of a contract in a timely way.”
The union says it still requires substantial movement from the university on a number of items to avert a strike.
“We have continued to negotiate with the university, and will continue to do so up to, and if necessary, throughout a strike,” Chapin said. “The discussions have been fruitful and we have seen some movement, but to avert a strike, we need substantial movement from Stanford to address the (union’s) issues.”
The union, which gained recognition in July of 2023, has been negotiating with the university for its first contract since November 2023. SGWU represents approximately 5,000 graduate student workers.
The most recent offer by the university would increase pay rates for research assistants, course assistants and teaching assistants by 4.5% in the first year of the contract, 4% in the second year and 3.5% in the third year. University minimum wage for course assistants and research assistants would increase by 6.5% in the first year of the contract instead of 4.5%, but the union says this is “still not nearly enough” to keep up with inflation and high rent in the Bay Area.
SGWU’s bargaining committee credits the threat of a strike authorization vote for the improvement in Stanford’s pay offer.
“Thanks to the pressure exerted by our membership, yesterday Stanford improved their offer from a 2-3% to a 4.5% raise for most graduate workers in the first year of the contract,” wrote the union’s bargaining committee in a statement to this news organization. “With that said, their offer is still inadequate in the face of inflation and the cost of living in the Bay Area, and we are preparing to strike to reach a settlement our members deserve if Stanford does not substantially improve the wage numbers.”
In its Nov. 6 bargaining update, Stanford claims that the pay being offered to its graduate workers is on par with its peer institutions. However, the union says that other graduate worker unions have achieved much larger pay increases in their first contracts, and that the cost of living is exceptionally high in the Bay Area, so a larger increase is necessary for its members to make a livable wage.
In addition to wages, the SGWU bargaining committee says that its membership voted to reject Stanford’s offer because of what it says are a lack of guaranteed Ph.D. funding, insufficient benefits and insufficient protections against discrimination and abuse of power.
Specifically, the union is asking that Stanford extend its two year Caltrain GoPass (unlimited fare card) to all union members, and not just graduate workers living off campus. Bargaining committee members are also asking that the university offer more money to international graduate workers to cover the costs of obtaining a visa.
SGWU’s bargaining committee also says that Stanford has backed out of funding commitments to multiple graduate workers over the years, and so it is asking for a five-year funding guarantee in the contract.
“Numerous graduate workers have been failed by Stanford not honoring its funding commitment,” the bargaining committee said in a statement about Stanford’s Oct. 28 contract offer. “Having a funding guarantee in the contract allows the union to conduct meetings and assist graduate workers in making sure that Stanford honors its commitment.”
Since the union initiated the strike authorization vote, some progress has been made toward a tentative agreement on the contract. According to a Nov. 6 bargaining update published by Stanford, the university and the union have reached two more tentative agreements since the union initiated the strike authorization vote, and the university has presented an updated contract proposal. The union’s bargaining tracker shows that they are continuing negotiations today.
So far, Stanford and SGWU have reached tentative agreements on 18 contract articles, including union security, university rights, inclusive work environment requirements, health and safety guarantees, grievance procedures and more. However, the union says its members are prepared to strike if Stanford does not make substantial movement on its offer, especially on the first year pay raises offered to the graduate workers.
In a press release from Nov. 7, the union’s bargaining committee wrote that it will continue meeting with Stanford to try to avert a strike.
“SGWU is ready and willing to come to a fair agreement with Stanford and will continue meeting
throughout the week before Nov. 12,” the committee wrote. “A strike will cause massive disruption to the university’s teaching and research missions, should Stanford fail to avert it. … However, Stanford’s continued refusal to meet the basic needs of its employees leaves thousands of graduate workers with no choice but to walk off the job on Nov. 12.”
Rapport said that if a strike does occur, classes as well as other university operations will continue.
“We will work to preserve continuity in our teaching and research to the greatest extent possible,” she said.
