We just wrapped up our bargaining session, where we presented two new proposals and three counter-proposals. As of this session, we have presented all of our initial non-economic proposals to UNH! This is a major step, but we still have plenty of work ahead of us. We are in the process of preparing counter-proposals for the remaining articles and counters we have received from UNH, and are still waiting to hear back from UNH on many of our proposals.
New articles proposed by GEU-UNH:
- Non-Discrimination and Harassment: We demand that all graduate employees have comprehensive protections from any form of discrimination and harassment at UNH. This article establishes protections, intermediary measures, and timelines for dealing with any occurrences of discrimination or harassment that a GE may experience. We also propose the establishment of a Community Safety Committee whose purpose is to bring together voices from different members of the UNH community and empower them to speak up about issues affecting marginalized groups.
- Non-Reprisal and Retaliation: This article prohibits any retaliation from the University against a GE who reports a violation of the collective bargaining agreement, University policy, or state or federal law.
Counter-proposals presented by GEU-UNH:
Despite the two and a half weeks since our last bargaining session and the fact that the Union has had five or more proposals ready for each session, UNH did not have any counter-proposals prepared for us today. This was disappointing, to say the least, as this does not reflect the tone they set when we started the bargaining process when they said they would like to move this process along quickly.
Their lack of preparedness wasn’t the most disappointing part, however. When we presented our Grievances & Arbitration proposal, they suggested that they would return a counterproposal that would severely limit a graduate worker’s ability to file a grievance alleging harassment, discrimination, bullying, sexual harassment, or sexual assault.
While there is still much work to be done, we want to give a huge thank-you to everyone who came out to observe the session! We had our largest turnout of observers yet and had great discussions with them during caucus. Our next bargaining session is on December 2, 1-4PM, in MUB 334/336! The University is planning to present its counter to our International Workers article, and as always, it’s crucial that we show them the level of solidarity and support we have from our graduate worker community.