PSU and Graduate Employees Union reach contract agreement

Portland State University and the Graduate Employees Union representing about 800 teaching, research and administrative assistants have agreed to a tentative three-year contract.  

Shelly Chabon, vice provost for academic personnel and dean of undergraduate interdisciplinary general education, praised the bargaining teams for working the past 16 months to forge the first contract for PSU’s graduate employees.

“The process was challenging at times, but both teams worked diligently throughout the negotiation and mediation process to reach a fair and reasonable agreement,” she said.

Graduate Employees Union (GEU) representatives described the agreement as “a necessary first step in creating fair working conditions for graduate employees.” They added: “We look forward to addressing health insurance in subsequent negotiations, as it is our members’ largest and fastest-growing employment-related monthly expense.”

The tentative three-year agreement, which must be ratified by the GEU membership, includes:

• Annual raises between 1.5 percent and 3.5 percent.
• $184 one-time bonus for all graduate assistants this spring.
• The minimum part-time employment threshold increases from 0.15 full-time equivalent to 0.3 FTE.
• Minimum hourly pay increases by 5.64 percent this summer, 3.33 percent in fall 2018, 3.22 percent in fall 2019 and 3.19 percent in fall 2020.
• Mandatory fee subsidies (excluding matriculation fee) for all graduate assistants go to 45 percent in fall 2018, 60 percent in fall 2019 and 80 percent in fall 2020.
• A joint health insurance working group is being formed to produce a report and recommendations for the next round of negotiations for the next contract.    

Details of a ratification vote by GEU members are expected to be announced soon.