The New Contract Has Been Ratified
The results of our contract ratification vote are in, and CGE overwhelmingly voted to accept our tentative agreement with Oregon State with 93% approval from members. This means the strike ceases immediately and graduate employees are going back to work. This comes after a strike that began November 12th. This is CGE’s first strike since the union formed in 1999 and came after over a year of contract negotiations with Oregon State University.
This contract includes a 3 year term of agreement, meaning we will begin bargaining for our next contract sometime in 2026 as the contract expires in December of 2027. Our membership fought hard to get this term of agreement, which allows graduates to have a say in their working conditions throughout their time at OSU. The contract also comes with a 13% raise to the minimum, bringing that minimum pay for a graduate worker to $1991. It also includes merit raises, ranging from 2.75-3% per year.
Corvallis is consistently the most rent burdened city in the state, and this raise begins to address that gap for many of our lowest paid graduate workers. Other wins in the contract include an increase to SEVIS and DACA fee reimbursement for graduates, inclusion of caste as a protected status, and continuation of tuition remission and healthcare.
These wins would not have been possible without our membership, who continuously showed up to put pressure on the university and fight for their fellow graduate workers. We saw over 900 graduate workers participate in picketing and other visible actions in addition to withholding their labor. Union leadership is extremely proud of the power we’ve demonstrated, and the way that graduates, faculty, undergraduates, and community members stood in solidarity with us during this time. We are excited to get back to serving our students and producing the high quality research OSU is known for while now getting paid more fairly for the labor we provide.
Please reach out to solidarity@cge6069.org if you have more questions or need more information.
OSU Graduate Employees’ strike for fair pay and contract duration is suspended.
To donate to our strike fund, Venmo @CGE-OSU with the note “strike fund.”
Undergraduates, support our cause by signing our letter of support.
Faculty, sign on to a letter to OSU administration.
See our letter of community support here.
