The New Mexico State University Board of Regents met Dec. 28 to ratify a contract between the university and the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America, the union representing NMSU’s graduate assistants. The agreement runs through Jan. 1, 2025.
The contract, the first collective bargaining agreement between the university and its graduate assistants, was negotiated between July and December of this year. It was overwhelmingly approved by the bargaining unit earlier this month.
“I want to congratulate all parties involved in this process,” said NMSU Regent Chair Ammu Devasthali. “I realize this agreement is not perfect, but it gives both parties something to work to improve upon. We care deeply and we’re passionate about the students who come to us – all students, including undergraduates, grad students, and those who work as graduate assistants. We will continue to work on your behalf to provide and improve graduate assistant tuition relief, a practice at most research universities and one we wish to emulate.”
“I want to thank our graduate student union for their tireless efforts in advocating for the rights and needs of our graduate students,” said NMSU Regent Vice Chair Arsenio Romero. “Your dedication to improving the opportunities for your fellow students is truly admirable and it is clear that your work is appreciated by the entire graduate student community.”
“To all the graduate assistants out there, I know this wasn’t an easy process and at times it might have felt like you were alone,” said NMSU Student Regent Neal Bitsie. “Please know that everything you said, we heard.”
As part of the collective bargaining agreement, graduate assistants holding positions other than research assistants will receive a 6.8 percent compensation increase. Research assistants are funded through different sources, but the university encourages similar pay increases for those individuals as well.
Additionally, the agreement includes a scholarship award to help with tuition coverage. This has been an area of importance for students and the university administration. NMSU leaders said this was a first step in the process to increase support for tuition payments. It includes a guarantee that all graduate assistants will receive scholarships of at least $650 or two credit hours of tuition, including any differential tuition. The university hopes to build on this first step in future negotiations. If the New Mexico Legislature, in the upcoming legislative session, provides funding for tuition coverage, the parties will come back to negotiations in spring 2023. Both sides plan to work together to secure that funding from the Legislature.
A one-time $100 payment was also provided for international students holding assistantships to help offset increased health insurance costs.
The final vote by the board was 4-0, with one abstention due to the student Regent being a graduate assistant.