This story was originally published in Vol. 34, Issue 7 (April 2024)
WSU Vancouver Graduate students in WSU’s Coalition of Academic Student Employees are receiving better pay and benefits following the ratification of an agreement reached with the university after the union’s collective strike on all campuses on Jan. 17.
According to WSU-CASE affiliate and graduated neuroscience researcher Priyanka Bushana, the agreement was ratified remotely with the university administration.
Bushana clarified over email: “The actual tentative agreement happened virtually, where the administrative team, consisting of admin from many campuses, met with the bargaining team for our unit, which consists of [Academic Student Employees] from all campuses. The contract has since been ratified as of Jan. 25, and is in effect now.“
Most notably, the contract raised the minimum base pay from $1,670 per month to $2,318.50 per month, marking a substantial improvement in financial compensation. This increase was accompanied by a provision ensuring that the minimum base pay would be adjusted upwards for cost-of-living increases. Additionally, a minimum 5% base increase for all salaries was guaranteed within 90 days.
Moreover, a 3% increase for salary and hourly wages for Academic Student Employees, predominantly effective during the summer months, was secured, with implementation slated for October 1st, 2025. To address immediate financial needs, the hourly wage was promptly adjusted to a minimum of $17.09 per hour within the stipulated 90-day period. These described changes were confirmed via WSU-CASE’s contract at https://wsucase.org/ase-contract-24-26/.
Healthcare concerns for Academic Student Employees will take more time to resolve. The new contract will not allow for a change in health insurance to be negotiated until 2025 due to previously signed contracts with insurance providers Delta Dental and United Healthcare. Taylor Krilanovich, a masters student in the Molecular Biosciences program at WSU Vancouver, expressed relief at the lowered healthcare premiums and the union’s ability to participate in healthcare negotiations in the coming years.
“In-network deductible has been reduced by $200, down from $500 to $300. And most importantly, the out-of-network deductible is down from $1000 to $300, which is huge,” said Krilanovich. “Especially for folks who need to see specialists or anything like that because United Healthcare, their carrier, is really not great with regional coverage. So, the out-of-network deductible is a massive improvement.”
Although Krilanovich suffered firsthand due to the limited healthcare coverage offered to Academic Student Employees, she expressed relief that graduate students’ healthcare premiums will be more affordable, particularly for those with chronic health conditions like herself.
“I have a pretty severe chronic illness that I have not been on correct medication for the past two years because their pharmacy coverage initially was very, very bad,” Krilanovich said. “And it improved only slightly, but not enough to really make a difference. This is especially true for folks who are not on the Pullman campus because students in Pullman at least have access to the pharmacy there. On the Vancouver, Spokane, Tri-Cities campus, we don’t have that. We would have to drive to Pullman to pick up a prescription to have it be covered in the way that the offer letter implies it should be through our healthcare. So that was a really big challenge for me, and one of my really big reasons for going on strike. So, I’m delighted to see that we’ve, even if it’s coming in a little bit of a delayed fashion, we were able to make headway with that.”
WSU Vancouver Biology doctoral candidate Eric Prileson felt that most Academic Student Employees appreciate the changes negotiated by the union.
“[Academic Student employees] who I’ve talked to are elated, especially those [Academic Student employees] with children or families to support,” said Prileson. “They feel like there is a breath of fresh air. Some have thought about being able to pay off some of their long-term student loans or pay off credit card debt, or even simply feeling food-secure. In addition, having workplace protections in place as part of the contract including a grievance process that includes union members is hugely important. For others with families, negotiated benefits such as family leave and subsidies for childcare are a lifeline.”