It’s negotiations time! Our GTAC Negotiations Team is working hard to negotiate our salary, benefits, and working conditions with the University of Kansas. While GTAC has achieved four raises over the last two years, we still make over $6k less than the average GTA in the US.
The bargaining team’s success at the negotiation table is directly correlated to how well-informed and involved all of us as GTAs remain throughout the process. The negotiations team will keep you updated going forward so please make sure we have your most up-to-date PERSONAL contact information. If you don’t get updates from GTAC, send your PERSONAL email and cell phone number to bkeeper@aftks.org as soon as possible and we’ll get you on the list. For more information about how the negotiations process is going so far, check out our video summary.
Our Negotiations Team is fighting for affordable year-round health insurance, a salary increase to match average GTA pay across the country, and a waiver for campus fees. We can win if we stand together in union. All GTAs are members of our union, but KU admin judges our union power solely by our number of dues members. Will you stand with us and join our union today?
Want to help us continue to grow membership and raise our voices in solidarity for a more equitable KU? Come to our Organizing Committee Meeting this Tuesday, where we will be discussing membership outreach, our direct actions for November (protests/social media campaign), and the future of GTAC. You can also join our private GTA-only Facebook Group or email Andrew Kustodowicz (andrew.kustodowicz@gmail.com) for more information about this meeting.
At our last general meeting on September 23rd, GTAC began the process of having deliberate, open, and frank conversations about how racism, especially anti-Blackness, is ingrained in GTAC and KU more broadly. GTAC leadership is committed to transparent, tangible, and material actions that work to establish and promote an anti-racist framework within our union. While it is not the responsibility of GTAs of color to lead this effort, we certainly appreciate their labor, time, and energy given to making our union one that is committed to anti-racism.
The executive board received a list of grievances and recommendations from a group of Black GTAs, as a product of The Black GTA Community Space. We will be discussing these recommendations in our General Meeting – please email me, Neill Kennedy, if you have specific ideas on how to engage in this process or bring them to the general meeting.
Mark your calendars for our General Meeting on Thursday, November 19th at 6 pm. We will be discussing structural racism in GTAC, updates in negotiations, and the results of our organizing campaign.