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  • CGE-UAW Bargaining Survey

  • Current Job Title (Fall 2025)

  • I support CGE-UAW in bargaining collectively to reach a fair contract. This survey allows Penn State graduate workers to share information about our priorities with the graduate workers we elect to our bargaining committee. The bargaining committee will use these surveys to prepare a bargaining platform on which we will have the opportunity to vote. After democratic approval of our platform, the bargaining committee can negotiate for the needs of all Penn State graduate workers with confidence. All of these are important ways to improve our workplace, but we likely won’t win everything in our first contract. When selecting priority, consider which changes you think need to be addressed most urgently.

  • Working Conditions, Rights, and Protections

  • Please rate the priority of including each right/protection in this contract.

    Select one per row; 1 = low, 2 = medium, 3 = high priority

  • Academic Freedom: Right to free academic inquiry and speech without fear of retaliation
  • Appointment Security: Protect against unjust termination or last-minute modification/withdrawal of funding/appointments
  • Child Care: Increase access to affordable child care and/or subsidies for all parenting graduate workers
  • Disability Access: Increase disability access and services, including funds and mandatory paperwork
  • Grievance Procedure: Establish a procedure for protections against contract violations including third-party arbitration
  • Health and Safety: Ensure a healthy work environment by improving safety oversight and enforcement
  • Intellectual Property: Establish clear IP rights that give inventors and authors a fair share of ownership
  • International Student Support: Expand university resources for supporting international students, such as tax support, relocation funds, and sanctuary from ICE/CBP
  • Job Expectations and Training: Require clear, consistent job descriptions (e.g. duties, evaluation criteria, pay classification) and adequate training. Require posting of open-hire positions
  • Non-Discrimination: Strengthen protections against all forms of discrimination, including sexual harassment. Improve inclusivity, e.g., access to gender-neutral bathrooms
  • Paid Time Off/Leave: Ensure minimum vacation time, holidays, and leave for family, medical, or other reasons
  • Protections From Workplace Abuse: Increase protections and processes for remediation, such as third-party arbitration and assistance with changing labs/advisors in cases of bullying, sexual harassment, discrimination, and abuse
  • Space and Equipment: Ensure adequate, well-maintained space and materials necessary for assigned duties
  • Transportation: Increase affordable transit access
  • Visa Support and International Student Aid: Guarantee paid time off and funding for visa-related travel and expenses
  • Workload: Establish the right to a consistent and reasonable number of hours and workload, including guaranteed minimum hours for hourly workers

  • Wages and Benefits

  • In order to bargain effectively, it is important that we decide not only which of the following economic items should be our bargaining goals, but also which of them should be our highest priorities. Please assign priorities for the following items as follows: 1 = low, 2 = medium, 3 = high priority. Write any comments, concerns, or examples in the space provided at the end of each section.

  • Tuition and Fee Coverage

  • Waive all tuition and fees for all stipended and hourly graduate workers
  • Waive health insurance costs for all graduate workers

  • Wages and Employment

  • Raise base pay
  • Annual pay increases
  • Timely payment of wages and stipends
  • Extend appointment length (e.g., sixth-year funding)
  • Year-long contracts, including guaranteed summer funding

  • Health Benefits

  • Fully subsidized healthcare coverage
  • Improved, free dental insurance
  • Improved, free vision insurance
  • Improved, free specialist care
  • Fully subsidized healthcare coverage for dependents and families
  • Lower out-of-pocket costs
  • Allow direct access to off-campus practitioners
  • Increase funding for CAPS
  • Increase access to mental health and psychological services at CAPS
  • Equivalent and flexible student healthcare for all campuses

  • Housing

  • Provide accessible on-campus graduate housing
  • Ensure pay increases keep pace with rent increases

  • Other Benefits

  • Guarantee access to benefits and visas while on leave
  • Increase access to and value of transit subsidies
  • Increase access to and improve free tax assistance
  • Establish retirement benefits
  • Should be Empty: