Fair
Use Notice
From
the "Adjunct Mailing List" <adj-l@lyris.gc.cuny.edu>.
Subscription and Archiving Option also available through the Web Interface
at: http://listserv.gc.cuny.edu/lyris.pl?enter=adj-l
Oregon State graduate assistants win full
health benefits
thanks
to AFT - OregonAF
from
Jillian Kemp of AFT-Oregon. Her e-mail is <JillianK@AFT-Oregon.org>
Oregon
State graduate assistants win full health benefits thanks to AFT-OregonAFT-Oregon
secured a huge win when its Coalition of Graduate Employees negotiated
a tentative agreement granting full health insurance coverage for its
graduate teaching and research assistants at Oregon State University
(OSU), for the first time in OSU history.
"CGE
promised to gain health benefits for graduate assistants," said
Luke Ackerman, Local 6069 President. "By 2005, we will have achieved
that goal by 400 percent. Yes, it took four years, but in the scheme
of things, that wasn't long to wait for health insurance, considering
graduate assistants
had always worked without benefits before," he said.
The
comprehensive plan starts October 2004, and will include a shared contribution
by the University and graduate assistant employees with at least a .2
FTE appointment. Until then, graduate assistant employees will receive
an increase in the recruitment and retention differential that they
already receive equal to $220 per term towards health costs-a 100 percent
increase in benefits. By 2005, the University will cover 75 percent
of employee health insurance costs.
"What
impressed me most was the support we got from faculty - their awareness
helped to move negotiations along, said Mindy Crandall, Local 6069 (CGE)
VP Communications, and bargaining team member."
In
addition, the new agreement includes a Health Insurance Advisory Council,
composed of three graduate employees, and three university representatives.
The
charge of the council will be to review operations and advise the plan
administrator, OSU Student Health Services. "This is a win for
both OSU and its graduate employees," said Ackerman. "Graduate
employees will have the health insurance coverage they deserve, and
OSU has another great tool for recruiting the best graduate assistants,"
he said.
*
* * * *********************************************
From
the "Adjunct Mailing List" <adj-l@lyris.gc.cuny.edu>.
Subscription and Archiving Option also available through the Web Interface
at: http://listserv.gc.cuny.edu/lyris.pl?enter=adj-l
Return
to Top
Fair
Use Notice