Tentative agreement on International student support!

TAs and Wins:

International Student Worker Rights Office of International Affairs (OIA), under this article, must provide accurate information related to immigration and respond in a timely manner! For international graduate workers who have immigration issues, renew visas, or update passports, the University will make accommodations to do so without interruption of pay, allowing remote work privileges. The University commits to re-employing international students who lose work authorization, pending the resolution of immigration issues. 

The University will not voluntarily release information about immigration status to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) -  release of information regarding undocumented workers shall only occur if legally compelled. If information is released to DHS, the University will notify any affected workers so they can prepare for any impending challenges.

Appointment Security This article guarantees that if you are teaching a class and it is canceled, you will be offered an alternative section if one is available. If the canceled teaching position is related to your funding, you will be guaranteed that same funding during that quarter. Similarly, if your RA-ship related to your funding ends, you will get a quarter of transitional funding to seek another RA appointment. This will reduce financial anxiety in canceled appointments and keep income for graduate workers stable.

The conversation continues:

One outstanding piece of negotiations concerns Health and Safety in the workplace. We have made progress, UChicago has guaranteed we “shall not be required to work in conditions that pose an unreasonable threat to [our] health and safety,” meaning the union can intervene if we feel that the conditions are unsafe. We’ve also made progress on additional public health protections. One outstanding element of our proposal frames police presence in the workplace as a health and safety issue, asserting the right for a graduate worker to leave their worksite if police are present. “As evidenced by the 2018 shooting of a student by a UCPD officer,” Bargaining Committee member Rina Sugawara stated, “the presence of armed cops in and of itself poses danger, fear, and feelings of unsafety.” Rina added that the University needs to make a commitment to de-escalatory tactics: “if the Dean-on-Call is an avenue for de-escalatory and non-violent intervention in emergency situations, [GSU] deserves clarity on what that resource is…to understand situations that involve [graduate workers].” Our fight to ensure police accountability, nonviolent conflict intervention, and our worker safety continues. We hope that our demands about policing set a precedent that extends into Hyde Park, Kenwood, and Woodlawn, beyond the scope of our workers and our contract.