Labor Notes
July 31st, 2015
Twenty-two-hundred University of Connecticut graduate assistants (GAs) won a first contract that features big economic gains as well as social justice provisions affecting international students, transgender workers, and women.
The contract for the Graduate Employee Union, United Auto Workers Local 6950, went into effect July 1. It comes after a swift organizing campaign, marked by intensive political organizing and strong rank-and-file participation.
The high-visibility campaign culminated in an April 21 sit-in at the Student Union by more than 300 GAs. The tentative agreement was secured that same afternoon.
“We engaged in five actions with a majority of workers participating in each, over the course of the last year, that won recognition of our union and significant improvements in our first contract,” said Leland Aldridge, a graduate assistant in physics.