Graduate workers will soon vote on a proposed contract that successfully stalled a strike following a week of anticipation — a step further in their year-long negotiation efforts. 

The bargaining committee of the Stanford Graduate Workers Union (SGWU) has recommended members ratify a contract that affirms historic gains such as non-discrimination policy and financial security, despite wage increases that fell below initial demands.

Union members can vote to ratify the contract during a six day period starting Saturday. To be instituted, the contract needs a majority vote from members, who are required to sign a new card to remain a part of the union.  

If approved, the proposed contract would go in effect immediately and expire in August 2027. The Daily breaks down the term of the agreement and looks back on the union’s negotiation history.

Compensation

The agreement proposes pay raise schemes that will grant graduate workers a wage increase of 4.75% on average in the first year of the contract.

If the contract is approved, the University’s minimum stipend for the 2024-25 academic year will increase by 6.78%, from $50,616 to $54,052. The stipend will increase by 4.25% next fall and by 3.75% in 2026. 

Graduate workers on a minimum stipend could see an effective 15.5% pay raise over the three-year contract period, whereas others will receive between a 12.5% and 13.3% raise. This falls below pay raises secured by graduate workers at certain peer institutions, while exceeding that of Columbia and Harvard workers.

In September, the union proposed raising the annual minimum stipend to $68,620 — an increase of over 35% — starting this academic year. The proposal was rejected by Stanford, who initially suggested raising the stipend by 3%. On Nov. 6, Stanford proposed a 4.5% first-year increase, which was “not nearly enough for us given the pressure of rising rents and cost of living in one of the most expensive places in the country and the world,” the bargaining committee wrote in a previous email. SGWU demanded a stipend increase of at least 14% as of Nov. 7, prior to the University’s decision to temporarily halt bargaining.

Housing rates

In an unprecedented move, the University published its expected graduate housing rates for the 2025-26 academic year and the 2026-27 academic year and guaranteed that the housing rate increase will not exceed graduate workers’ pay raise. 

Per the published rates, there will be a weighted average increase of 4.0% in graduate housing rent next year and a weighted average increase of 3.5% in 2026. For a single student currently paying $1,960 per month to live in a standard residence in Escondido Village, for example, rent will increase to approximately $2,038 during the 2025-26 academic year.

Guaranteed funding

A second letter to the union affirmed the University’s 12-month funding guarantee for the first five years of Ph.D. students’ degrees. 

The agreement marks the first time the University has published details of the funding guarantee, according to the bargaining committee. The agreement also allows Ph.D. students to set up a meeting with Stanford to to discuss funding options if academic issues are not the reason for funding denial.

Nondiscrimination clauses

The negotiated contract included a series of “groundbreaking improvements on harassment and discrimination protections,” the bargaining committee wrote, such as guarantees of union representative involvement in preliminary Title IX meetings with the University. Per the statement, SGWU is the first graduate workers’ union in the nation to secure such a protection.

The University had previously suggested to exclude sexual harassment as grievable from the contract. However, in the proposed contract, the University promised to allow graduate workers in Title IX proceedings to request that the Title IX coordinator or their designee first meet with union representatives to agree on adequate support measures, according to the statement. Graduate students have previously raised concerns on the Title IX grievance process’ failure in addressing sexual harassment from professors.

The contract also ensures that any graduate worker may choose to select a union member as their support person in investigative interviews related to Title IX proceedings. 

If the union perceives the University has violated either the anti-discrimination or anti-abuse clause of the contract, it reserves the right to file a grievance on behalf of the graduate worker who was subject to the violation. The union and complainant may jointly request a meeting with the University if additional support is needed during the proceedings.

Additional benefits

The agreement also provides a one-time lump sum payment of $1,200 to international Ph.D. students to be used for any government fees associated with visa maintenance or other costs relating to their international status. The sum applies to current and future Ph.D. students and will be paid within 30 days of international Ph.D. students’ matriculation. 

The University affirmed that its Emergency Grant-in-Aid program will cover costs related to vision, dental, chronic medical conditions and mental health treatment.

The Caltrain GoPass — a discounted, annual, unlimited pass for Bay Area transit — will be redistributed to graduate workers who live outside Stanford campus zip codes 94305, 94305, and 94309, and is guaranteed to last for the duration of the contract.

A year of negotiations

Efforts toward negotiations began in late October 2023, when SGWU held its first meeting to present its bargaining platform, which aimed to increase wages and worker protections. The language contract proposal for SGWU’s bargaining platform included clauses on workplace safety, affordable housing and healthcare, anti-discrimination policies and job security. 

A proposed Palestine solidarity statement sparked debate within the union regarding SGWU’s role in taking a stance on the Israel-Gaza war. The statement on solidarity with Palestinian Trade Unions was ultimately ratified in solidarity with Palestinian Trade Unions with 65% approval on Nov. 1, 2023.

SGWU held a rally in White Plaza the following day — when the bargaining proposal was overwhelmingly ratified by union members — marking the beginning of contract negotiations with the University. The proposal included a provision ensuring contract coverage for fellows, whose exclusion from SGWU was one of the main rallying points for union demonstrators. 

Following the demonstration, the SGWU bargaining committee engaged in the first round of negotiations with the university, where they presented a non-economic platform on expanding worker benefits that didn’t include wages or stipends. 

After six months of bargaining regarding the non-economic agreement, SGWU ratified its economic bargaining platform in May with 98% approval. The economic platform called for “an immediate and substantial pay raise” for all graduate workers, support for affordable housing and improved transportation and health benefits. The platform was approved after a lengthy feedback and revision period open to all union members. The union argued Stanford stipends are far less efficient than peer institutions when adjusted for Santa Clara County’s cost of living. 

Negotiations between the bargaining committee and the University continued throughout the summer quarter. In an Oct. 2 statement, the University asserted that SGWU demands in Sept. 27 and Oct. 1 bargaining sessions were “unreasonable,” and instead offered a 3% wage increase. SGWU members argued the proposal was not sufficient to counteract rising meal plan costs and Stanford-set rent prices.

The same day, SGWU members rallied and signed strike pledges, affirming they would cease work if the University continued to refuse the union’s minimum bargaining demands. On Oct. 30, SGWU launched a two-item ballot, urging union members to vote in favor of a strike authorization measure and disapprove the University’s Oct. 28 proposed contract. Union members were set to strike on Tuesday if the University did not “adequately improve [its] offer,” according to SGWU.

After a week-long voting period closed, SGWU’s strike authorization vote passed on Nov. 6 with 89% approval and members rejected the University’s Oct. 28 contract with 94%. The strike authorization passage enabled the bargaining committee to call a strike at their discretion. 

On Nov. 7, Provost Jenny Martinez and Vice Provost for Graduate Education and Postdoctoral Affairs Stacey Bent sent an email to all students announcing a break in negotiations with the union after recent bargaining sessions. 

Bargaining paused because Stanford asserted it was unable to offer more than a 3.38% raise to all graduate workers and a 4.5% wage raise in the first year of the contract, according to the bargaining committee. The SGWU bargaining committee argued this offer would be inadequate, in line with their economic comparison chart, and vowed to launch a strike on Tuesday if the University did not make “serious movement” regarding key bargaining issues such as wage increases, nondiscrimination, benefits and guaranteed funding.

Negotiations resumed on Monday, which SGWU wrote was due to support from faculty, undergraduates, graduate workers and other staff convinced the University to return to the bargaining table. SGWU initially postponed the strike to Wednesday following “movement on a number of key issues” by the University on Monday. The strike was eventually called off Tuesday night and the bargaining committee announced the tentative agreement will be put to a vote in two days.

At a Town Hall held by the union Thursday night, where dozens of graduate workers attended, some audience members questioned the bargaining committee about the proposed wage rate and the cost of union dues. The bargaining committee maintained their support for ratifying the tentative agreement. 

“With three years to consolidate our position, build our power, and prepare for the next round of bargaining, the fight is only just beginning,” the bargaining committee wrote to members in their recommendation of the contract.

Linda Liu contributed reporting.

Correction: A previous version of this article misstated the following: the ratification period as one week, the University minimum stipends as $54,072, the minimum stipend increase over 3 years as 15.5%, the date Stanford proposed a 4.5% increase, the SGWU Nov. 7 proposal as an increase to the University minimum, the meeting regarding guaranteed funding as to address academic issues, the Caltrain GoPass given to all commuters, the Palestine solidarity statement as part of the SGWU language proposals and the date of the strike authorization vote. The Daily Regrets these errors.