“A strike will cause massive disruption to the university’s teaching and research missions, should Stanford fail to avert it,” the bargaining team told members last week. “Teaching assistants will cancel their review and discussion sessions, office hours, and labs. Assignments will not be graded. … However, Stanford’s continued refusal to meet the basic needs of its employees leaves thousands of graduate workers with no choice but to walk off the job.”
In an email to Stanford community members on Monday, Provost Jenny Martinez and Vice Provost for Graduate Education Stacey Bent said, “The university takes seriously our obligation to preserve the continuity of learning and research.”
“The university has worked to listen and engage constructively with the union at the negotiating table and to put forward a competitive contract offer. We continue to seek a timely resolution,” the message continues.
The union has been in contract negotiations with the university for a year following its formation in July 2023. SGWU authorized a strike last Wednesday when 94% of members voted against the university’s latest contract offer and 89% agreed to walk off the job.
The bargaining team said last week that it had made progress on securing better benefits, but “Stanford is still refusing to offer a living wage.”
Stanford’s most recent offer included a minimum salary of $53,908 a year. The union said that’s not enough to cover the cost of living in Santa Clara County, which it estimates to be $68,620 based on an MIT livable wage calculator. SGWU has proposed a minimum compensation of $58,840, followed by annual increases of 4% and 3.5% for the following two years.
Martinez and Bent said in a statement on Nov. 7 that the union is demanding a pay increase between 14%–16%, while the university is offering a 12% increase over three years.
“Stanford’s offered salary levels … are the highest among our Ivy Plus peers,” the statement said, referring to a group of schools across the country, including the eight Ivy League schools and other elite universities.
While the parties haven’t reached an agreement on compensation, a bargaining tracker published by the union shows that they have made 18 tentative agreements related to union rights, appointments, and health and safety, among other things.
SGWU said in a message to members last week that they had also made progress on negotiations for benefits like health care and immigration costs, and getting the university to publish information about rent increases through the years of the contract. Seventy percent of graduate workers live on campus, and the union aims to tie wage increases to the rising cost of living in university housing.
Still, sticking points between SGWU and Stanford include guaranteed funding for Ph.D. candidates, which the university already agrees to provide, but the union said it has “failed to honor” on many occasions. The union is also lobbying for access to public transit passes for all students, not just those living off campus.
The bargaining team said it will be in meetings with staff all day Tuesday in hopes of reaching an agreement.
