International students / non-US citizen
Issues mentioned in this interview
We wanted better support for incoming international students, since for many of them, it was their first time living in a foreign country. But we were told that many of our demands cannot be bargained for, since the incoming students are not in a union yet. We still managed to add some basic demands into the initial proposal, like asking the university to provide more specialized workshops for international students. But the bargaining team later dropped it, saying that the union can provide these things.
We also wanted better visa-related document processing. The Office of International Services (OIS) in charge of our immigration documentation has been understaffed, and we thought about asking USC to provide more resources for this office. But we were told that is not bargainable. We then tried to suggest including language ensuring that the administration would cover financial costs for any mistakes in our visa documents. But the bargaining team also later dropped this, saying that this would already be protected and that we could fill grievances later, providing an example from UC San Francisco. But when we tried to clarify whether the university would cover our financial loss if they made a mistake in our documents (leading to issues like missing our paychecks), the bargaining team did not give us a clear answer. We did get the university to commit to putting $10,000 a year into a fund to assist with international students’ visa issues. Personally, I think this is different from our initial goal, which is to get the university to commit to not offloading costs onto international students for its own errors—no matter the cost. And this “solution” is much cheaper than hiring even one more staff in the OIS.
Things other unions have won
U of Oregon
Support & Resources for International GE Recent Wins
- UO will reimburse SEVIS and visa application fees.
- UO will provide free state and federal tax software to all international GEs, and send info on how to access it at least one month before tax deadline.
- New optional training specific to international GE needs related to U.S. workplace communication and cultural adaptation strategies.
- Information about UO housing and deadlines will be provided by UO around the time offer letters are sent.
- Information about obtaining UO mailing address and mailing address guidelines will be provided by UO around the time offer letters are sent.
UW
Intellectual Property in UW grad contract: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NaGtvsewRVgZrPievbJvfgu8nH3FP_fU/view
Yale
- Local 33 contract: https://local33.org/our-contract/
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INTEREST: Article 12. Support for international workers.
- Item 7. OPT/CPT discrimination at Yale. The contract is helping protect against that.
- INTEREST: Article 23. Leave. Mandatory military service/immigration absence doesn’t terminate your employment. 2 months of leave (40 working days) until visa status is settled.
- Legal assistant fund: 40k annually.
The University shall establish an International Graduate Workers Legal Assistance Fund in the amount of $40,000 for each fiscal year of this Agreement. Graduate Workers may apply for reimbursement from the fund of any out-of-pocket legal expenses relating to visa and immigration proceedings and any related matters, including reimbursements for SEVIS and visa renewal fees, for themselves, their children, their spouse, or their domestic partner at any point in the calendar year of their appointment in a bargaining unit position. Distribution of any funds shall be made in accordance with procedures, policies and requirements established by the Union, subject to approval by the University. Unexpended funds may be rolled over from one year to the next for the duration of this Agreement.
- No ICE on campus, etc.
Columbia
Syracuse University
Proposals:
- $60k fund to cover SEVIS and Visa fees + a $50k hardship fund, which could be used for economic hardships for international graduate workers or Visa and SEVIS fees
- a Working Group on Housing for International Graduate Assistants be referenced in the article for International Graduate Workers
Tentative agreement: $50k hardship fund