Temple grad students overwhelmingly ratify agreement, ending their six-week strike

After the union rejected a proposal last month, an agreement between Temple and its striking graduate students this time was approved by a vast majority of members, officially ending the six-week strike that has disrupted operations at the 33,600-student university.

Results of the vote were released late Monday afternoon by the Temple University Graduate Students Association, which represents 750 graduate student teaching and research assistants. With more than three-quarters of members voting, 98% said yes to the new four-year contract, hammered out during meetings last week.

“This new contract is a first step toward the university recognizing the value of our work,” said Bethany Kosmicki, a member of the union’s negotiating team and past TUGSA president. “I feel like the collective power and strength that our union had throughout this strike really sent the message that we needed a fair contract and we were going to be out here until Temple gave us one.”

The minimum pay for graduate students will increase about 30% over the life of the contract — closer to 40% for some in the lower tier, said Kosmicki, a graduate research assistant in the sociology department. The contract also makes standard minimums for students in varying disciplines, getting rid of a previous inequitable system, she said.

» READ MORE: Temple reaches another tentative agreement with the striking graduate student union

Temple President Jason Wingard said in a statement that he was pleased with the agreement.

“Over the past six weeks, Temple demonstrated remarkable resilience,” he said. “Perseverance conquers, and today’s agreement is evidence of our collective willingness to unite and advance.”

He thanked those who participated in the negotiations and enabled the university to continue education during the strike.

“I am grateful for the progress we made together,” he said.

Congratulations from state and city officials were reflected on TUGSA’s Twitter feed after a tentative agreement was announced last week.

“What the @TUGSA_6290 workers have done is historic,” tweeted state Sen. Nikil Saval. “They stood up for themselves, and in doing so, they stood up for all workers.”

Details on when and how striking graduate students will return to their teaching and research jobs are still being worked out, the university said last week. Some students and parents have complained that quality of instruction has suffered as classes where striking graduate students had been teaching were moved online taught by replacement workers hired by Temple.

Kosmicki said graduate students have been guaranteed work equivalent to what they were doing before the strike, but exact assignments may vary depending on the needs of their department or school.

Healing relationships between the union and administration — and even among graduate students who went on strike and those who didn’t — may take longer. The university has estimated that 30% of TUGSA members had been on strike, while the union has said it was more than that.

Under the new agreement, the minimum pay for a graduate student will rise to $24,000 in the first year of the contract and to $27,000 by year four, a 30% increase from the current $20,700 average pay over the life of the contract, which runs through spring 2026.

Graduate students, who work part time over nine months and teach core undergraduate courses and assist professors with research, also will receive a $500 one-time payment this year, and the university will begin to pay 25% toward healthcare insurance subsidies for graduate students’ dependents. The university already pays the full subsidy for the students.

» READ MORE: Without grad students, the classroom has changed for the worse, some Temple undergraduates say

Students will get up to four consecutive calendar days for paid bereavement leave and up to 21 calendar days for the birth of a child.

Tuition remission for the graduate students will be reinstated retroactive to the beginning of the semester. The university previously restarted paying students’ health-care insurance subsidies. When Temple announced it was ending both in early February as a result of the strike, the university received much criticism, on and off campus.

» READ MORE: Temple grad students overwhelmingly vote down proposed contract, strike continues

Graduate students last month voted down a tentative agreement in which the negotiating team had taken no position. This time the union’s negotiating team endorsed the plan.

TUGSA had been seeking a 50% hike in pay the first year, which would have increased base pay to more than $32,000. The university had been offering 10% and smaller increases in subsequent years.

Kosmicki said the new contract sets a good base on which to build for future contracts.

“I think that this has really shown that when people stand together and don’t back down, because you know your worth, you can really achieve some incredible things together,” she said. “I would hope this sends a message to not just Temple but other university administrations about the strength of unions and the value of its workers and the need to recognize that value for the sustainability and longevity of the universities.”

There have been increasing calls for better pay for graduate students nationally, with strikes at several other colleges, most recently the University of California. The University of Pennsylvania last semester passed a nearly 25% increase in its minimum pay for doctoral students — the largest one-time boost in the school’s history. Starting in 2023-24, the minimum stipend will rise from $30,547 to $38,000.

Some of Temple’s peer colleges pay graduate students more. At Pennsylvania State University, graduate assistants with 20-hour-a-week appointments, 36 weeks a year, earn an average of $24,822 annually.