Catherwood LibraryILR School

In a major victory for graduate student employees, New York University and United Auto Workers Local 2110 representing research and teaching assistants at the university have negotiated the first ever contract between a private university and graduate assistants. The four year contract---which covers the over 1000 graduate students who work over twenty hours a week---provides for an increase of almost forty percent in stipends retroactive to last semester, overtime pay for hours worked beyond the basic twenty, and full healthcare coverage phased in by next year. The NYU agreement comes as graduate students at Columbia, Brown, and other private universities are attempting to unionize, and will likely set the standard for bargaining at other universities.