You may have heard that we recently won three years of guaranteed raises after negotiating in union with the University of Kansas, but if not… Good news! We’re getting raises! $750 per year for the next three years, starting in October! Read Lawrence Journal World article here:
In previous years, confusion caused some departments to not fairly implement raises – so please read this carefully to ensure that you get your raise.
How do we come together to negotiate for raises?
- GTAs come together to elect leadership and appoint people to our Negotiating team.
- Our team negotiates a minimum salary with the University of Kansas.
- The University sends the minimum salary amount for each GTA to their department.
Make sense? Good. Now here’s where it gets tricky.
So how does GTA funding work?
Before the raises are implemented, the minimum bi-weekly compensation rate for a .50 FTE GTA is $797.79, so if you currently make this amount your raise will look like this:
But some departments offer their GTAs a higher rate over the minimum salary amount
For example, the bi-weekly compensation rate for GTAs in these departments are as follows:
$862.13 Communications – or the minimum +64.34
$962.68 Mathematics – or the minimum +164.89
$1042.27 Special Education – or the minimum +244.48
So then what happens? That’s a great question! Using Communication as an example, what should happen is:
What happened last time? We’ve heard second-hand reports that some GTAs did not receive their raises two years ago but have been unable to verify that. It sounds like some departments may have used that “extra” money from KU for departmental expenses, rather than passing it on to the GTAs who negotiated for it. If that happened, it would look like this:
What action can we take to ensure we receive our raises?
1. Let’s be proactive! Contact your department chair/director to check their understanding of this process – many departments don’t have a great understanding of how these things work. All departments operate differently so if you need assistance navigating that discussion, reply to this email to contact your department steward and we’ll come help!
2. Join our union! The more members we have, the stronger we are: Go to: www. tinyurl.com/JoinGTAC
3. Sign up for steward training! Stewards use the grievance process to protect and defend other GTAs from contract violations and unfair department policies/discipline. Click here to sign up for free steward training.
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact your officers by replying to this email.