TL;DR: WE HAVE REACHED A FULL TENTATIVE AGREEMENT! The ratification vote of said Tentative Agreement will be on January 28-29th through a secure, online vote. Read more about the vote to ratify our first union contract and find resources to help understand its legalese here.
We hope you are safe and healthy as our community continues to recover from the last two weeks. For Postdocs and Graduate Student Workers who were impacted by the wildfires, UAW Region Six has created a hardship fundto help alleviate financial burdens. Additional resources can be found on the CGPU-UAW website.
After months of negotiations, your bargaining team is proud to announce that ALL REMAINING ARTICLES have been tentatively agreed to. Last week during intense meetings, our union and Caltech’s bargaining teams saw this across the finish line by tentatively agreeing to an economics package covering healthcare, childcare, wages/compensation, support for international scholars, and contract duration. Excluding healthcare and childcare, this package in the Fall is $49K for Domestic GSWs and $50K for International GSWs! For Postdocs, the base compensation is $73.5K if domestic and $74K if international!
As your elected bargaining team members, we unanimously recommend ratification and have put together a statement to shed light on the mechanisms that resulted in the draft of our first-ever union contract.
Here’s a brief explanation of the most recent major gains. Visit the CGPU website to read more about all of our wins, including step-by-step charts describing the grievance process and the industry-leading protections against discrimination, harassment, and abuse.
- Financial package (bargaining tracker)
- Nearly halves graduate student health insurance premium costs (saves $442 for an individual and $794 per dependent annually at the current rates)
- Maintains CCAP and Dependent Care Flexible Spending Account
- Establishes a $125,000 Postdoctoral Scholar Childcare Financial Hardship Fund, with a Caltech commitment to raise funds at least up to that dollar amount
- Up to $500 in visa fee reimbursements per international scholar
- GSW stipend increases to $48,244 in Fall 2025 and $50,000 in Fall 2026
- Postdoc base salary increases to $72,723 in Fall 2025 and $75,268 in Fall 2026, with an additional 2% raise for those above base pay
- All GSWs and Postdocs receive a ratification bonus of $800 in May after an April 1st contract start date
- Industry-leading Paid Time Off for visa renewals
- Ensures 3 days paid time off for visa renewal appointments in the US
- Ensures 7 days paid time off for visa renewal appointments outside the US
- Maintains flexibility: PIs can still grant additional time off
What comes next? When would the contract come into effect?
The contract would begin on April 1, 2025 and run until July 14, 2027. The contract will not take effect unless ratified by the bargaining unit. The ratification vote will take place on January 28th and 29th, and ratification requires a simple majority (more than 50%) of YES votes of the Postdocs and GSWs who vote. Like the strike authorization vote, the ratification vote will take place online; all unit members will receive a link to the ballot in their email. Find answers to frequently asked questions on the Ratification Portal.
There will be multiple in-person and online informational sessions in the coming days to make sure everyone understands what’s in the contract. The first online sessions will be on Wednesday at 3pm, Thursday at 2pm, and Friday at 3pm! RSVP here to receive the Zoom link. If you have additional questions, please contact organize@cgpu.org or your lab and building leaders.
In solidarity,
Patrick Meyers, Postdoc, PMA
Jess Griffiths, Postdoc, BBE
Tessa Rusch, Postdoc, HSS
Varun Wadia, Postdoc, BBE
Nadia Suryawinata, GSW, BBE
Sam Ponnada, GSW, PMA
Ruolin Deng, GSW, GPS
Korbi Thalhammer, GSW, GPS
Emma Lenz, GSW, EAS
David Abramovitch, GSW, EAS
Mike McKeon, GSW, GPS
Quinn Morgan, GSW, EAS
James Williams, GSW, EAS
Simona Miller, GSW, PMA