Last spring, our union won new benefits including dental, vision, retirement and transportation. These were important, precedent-setting victories. 

Since then, it's become clear that the Additional Payments structure we agreed to in good faith has become manipulated into a union-busting strategy. UChicago is walking back the historic advances we made in compensation equity by paying some workers additional money for benefits and not others. They insist on limiting eligibility based on formal job appointments that often change from one quarter to the next. Aside from creating an administrative nightmare, this policy also denies benefits to about 60% of grad workers. 

Workers across the Humanities and Social Sciences only receive benefits for a fraction of their time at the University. First year STEM students on rotation are also excluded, and workers who have won fellowships are denied retirement benefits. Even those who are deemed eligible for benefits fall through the cracks and lose payments because UChicago’s administrators cannot seem to follow their own rules.

We believe that no matter their appointment, all graduate workers should have the resources to care for their health and plan for their future.

We, the undersigned members of GSU-UE, demand that the University of Chicago universalize benefits for all graduate workers throughout the entirety of their PhD programs.