Fellow graduate students,
Our contract proposal was reasonable. Because of skyrocketing housing prices, we proposed salary increases to match Iowa State graduate students before-tax paycheck of $2,000 monthly. Because of rising insurance premiums for graduate students with families, we proposed an increase to the employer’s contribution to our dependent healthcare coverage. Because making a quick buck off of cost-burdened graduate students is outrageous, we proposed 100% fees coverage.
In response to our reasonable initial proposal, the Iowa Board of Regents did not address our fees proposal, nor our insurance proposal, and offered only a 0.5% salary increase. They also proposed cuts to our paid leave and to our summer sick leave, because – so they said at their initial proposal – graduate students ‘don’t get sick in the summer’.
If you want to fight cuts, and to fight for a fair deal, then the answer is to ORGANIZE. JOIN US for a work-in this Monday, December 12. Fight fees. Fight for families. Fight for a fair deal. Fight for a better contract!
UE Local 896 – COGS