Tampa: Graduate Assistants United continues negotiations at University of South Florida

Tampa, FL – On Friday May 16, the University of South Florida (USF) and the Graduate Assistants United (GAU) had their second round of negotiations for a collective bargaining agreement. Media and supporters from Tampa Bay Students for a Democratic Society were in the audience as the GAU team bargained and argued against USF’s counterproposals and as they introduced their own.

The negotiations started on April 25, and continued this session with Articles 2, 3 and 4 of the 24-article collective bargaining agreement. GAU aimed to make wording in these articles clearer, so USF no longer gets away with not providing offer letters on time to graduate assistants. They are also working to have graduate assistants paid on time, as USF often delays the first two-week paycheck at the beginning of the semester because of their paperwork not being filed in time.

Article 4 is about the Employee Evaluation File, a singular file which would show graduate assistants’ evaluations and comments throughout their employment. USF has chosen not to continue graduate assistants’ employment before without explaining their reason, and so GAU wants to avoid situations where there is no clarity as to why their contracts are not renewed. They have also fought to have USF pay for any necessary redactions to these files, as USF claims it is a burden on them even though it is a needed security measure.

Speaking on the importance of the negotiation, GAU president and member of the bargaining team Tessa Barber said, “Typically there is that employer-employee dichotomy, that power structure there, but bargaining levels the playing field to improve our conditions not just for ourselves but for anyone who comes after us.”

Barber stated, “We hope to gain improvements for our working conditions, greater protections for employees both in and out of the workplace, in terms of any engagement in extracurricular activities. And especially considering the volatile political climate at the moment, strengthen protections for all employees, particularly vulnerable communities who may be impacted by political decisions going on right now.”

The next bargaining session is scheduled for May 30 at 1 p.m. in the Patel Center of the USF Tampa campus, and GAU expects to have the bargaining agreement done by late July.

#TampaFL #FL #Labor #GAU #GraduateStudents