ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Graduate workers and the University of Michigan have reached a tentative agreement. But union members are voting right now to ratify the new contract.
Both sides are happy that the strike could be officially over this Friday (Aug. 25).
Excitement is building on U of M’s campus for the start of a new school year.
“It is definitely in a different place, different environment with a lot of opportunities to do a whole lot of new stuff,” said graduate student Karill Sabitov.
“I am just looking forward to getting my classes started, getting my research assistantship started,” said graduate student Nathan Hemenway.
The university and the Graduate Employees’ Organization announced a tentative agreement Tuesday morning.
It includes 80% raises by the end of the contract, new harassment protections for all grad students, and new benefits for parents, international students, and transgender workers.
“This whole fight has been about winning at the University of Michigan that is for everybody,” said Graduate Employees’ Organization spokesperson Amir Fleischmann. “We want this university to be a place where anyone can come and thrive as a grad student, and I think this contract gets us a lot closer to that vision.”
GEO represents 2,300 graduate student instructors at the University of Michigan Ann Arbor and Dearborn campuses. This is the longest strike in the union’s history.
“We stood strong, and we stood unified, had a lot of solidarity, and that allowed us to pull through and get this huge victory,” Fleischmann said.
Officials from the university said they were pleased that the tentative agreement had been reached, and they’re looking forward to the union ratifying the contract.