Members of the Stanford Graduate Workers Union (SGWU) overwhelmingly voted to authorize a strike.
SGWU’s Strike Authorization Vote passed on Wednesday, with 89.3% in favor out of 2,317 total votes. This outcome grants the union’s bargaining committee the authority to call a strike at their discretion. Ninety-four percent of union members also voted to reject Stanford’s Oct. 28 proposed contract.
“If Stanford does not make serious movement, most importantly on the first year wage increase, nondiscrimination, benefits, and guaranteed funding, the bargaining committee is authorized to call a strike beginning on Tuesday, November 12,” the SGWU bargaining committee wrote in an announcement to its members.
In a bargaining session on Wednesday morning, the University agreed to increase the wage for most graduate workers in the first year of the contract by 4.5% to $53,908. In the announcement, the SGWU bargaining committee wrote that the “proposal is still not nearly enough.”
The University’s improved 4.5% raise offer occurred “thanks to the pressure exerted by our membership,” bargaining committee member Chris Gustin wrote to The Daily.
“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 prepared to strike for a settlement graduate workers deserve if Stanford does not substantially improve their offer further,” Gustin added.
According to University spokesperson Luisa Rapport, if a strike does occur, classes and other university operations will continue, and the University “will work to preserve continuity in our teaching and research to the greatest extent possible.”
“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,” Rapport wrote in an email to The Daily Thursday morning. “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.”
Upon releasing the ballot Oct. 30, the SGWU bargaining committee unanimously urged its members to reject Stanford’s proposed contract and vote to authorize a strike.
Gustin wrote that “to avert a strike,” the union needs to see “substantial movement from Stanford” on issues such as wage increase for all graduate workers, timely grievability for discrimination and paid parental leave for non-birth parents. These issues were outlined in a document where the bargaining committee explained to union members why they should reject the University’s Oct. 28 offer.
“Stanford knows a strike would cause massive disruption to the university’s teaching and research missions, especially in the critical weeks before final exams,” SGWU wrote in their Oct. 28 press release. “However, should Stanford continue to refuse to pay their graduate workers a living wage, thousands of workers are prepared to strike in less than two weeks.”
The ballot, which closed on Wednesday after a week-long voting process, was launched after the University did not meet an Oct. 24 deadline the SGWU proposed to create a contract acceptable to workers. While the University maintains there are no deadlines in bargaining negotiations, the SGWU imposed one in hopes of securing higher wages and better non-discrimination protections, among other issues.
These steps are the latest developments in SGWU’s year-long negotiation process with the University since Nov. 13 last year. As it currently stands, the University’s recent proposed 4.5% wage raise is an increase from the Oct. 28 concession of a 2% raise for most workers. The University has also proposed paid-for Cardinal Care health care premiums and a $1000 payment to incoming international students with visas to assist with their associated expenses, among other benefits.
Rapport noted that the rent increase for 2024-25, “measured as a weighted average, was 4.25% rather than 4.5%.”
Still, the union said Thursday that the proposed raise is not enough. Gustin wrote that “especially, we need to see a much higher raise in the first year of the contract for all graduate workers than the 4.5% they proposed in our bargaining session yesterday.”
This story is breaking and will be updated.