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With a union, we could bargain for increased wages, consistent pay raises, and cost of living adjustments consistent with inflation.
Your pay will not go down!
With a union, we could bargain for improved and cheaper healthcare coverage, improved childcare, secure summer funding, and more! A union would also improve the relationship and communication between graduate employees, departments, and the university.
Most graduate students are employed with a "half-time" or 20 hour-per-week contract. Despite this, the vast majority of us end up working way more than our contract specifies. There's absolutely nothing wrong with working more, but we should be compensated for all of the work we do!
SEVIS fee reimbursements, paid leave to attend immigration hearings, and a legal fund for all international students to access are just some of the benefits unions have won for international graduate students. Unions have also advocated against things like visa restrictions for Chinese students and advocated for things like OPT extensions.
CGE is an organization that has existed since 2015. Our goal is to unionize graduate workers at Penn State. Grad workers across the country and across the world understand that being a part of a union is the best thing they can do to improve their workplace.