UI grad student group approves contract with 2 percent raises

IOWA CITY - The union that represents more than 2,600 University of Iowa graduate teaching and research assistants has ratified a new two-year contract with the UI and the state Board of Regents.

UE Local 896-COGS, the Campaign to Organize Graduate Students, approved the contract in two days of voting this week. The contract starts July 1.

Under the agreement, all graduate employees will receive minimum tuition scholarships of 100 percent of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences tuition rate. In addition, the new contract agreement secures 2 percent salary increases for all graduate assistants in the first year of the contract and a 2.5 percent raise in the second year. The contract also includes some language changes that will improve working conditions for graduate employees, representatives of the union said.

“The new contract will greatly enhance the lives of the workers we represent at the University of Iowa,” UE-COGS President Kari Thompson said.