The Temple University Graduate Student Association has begun preparing to negotiate for its next union contract, which expires on Feb. 15, 2026, by surveying members’ grievances and hopes for their next agreement.
TUGSA will begin negotiating with the university during the Fall 2025 semester.
The union wants to increase wages and health benefits, get rid of contract limitations on union members and allow for any raises to come directly from Temple administration, rather than lab budgets and grants.
The survey, which gathered more than 350 responses, asked members about life factors like their family sizes, economic situations and healthcare, said TUGSA President Jesús Fernández Cano.
Results showed that while members felt their last contract had many wins, there are still improvements to be made in compensation. Many union members are the sole providers for their families, Fernández Cano said.
“In our last contract, we had very big wins regarding economic stability, but from that time to now, because of inflation and other economic factors, we’re still behind on the living wage for Philadelphia,” said Carolina Bonansea, a Ph.D. candidate and organizing member for TUGSA. “We’re around $20,000 behind the living wage, which is an issue because a lot of the members of TUGSA are our only providers for our family.”
The minimum salary for union members in the 2025-2026 year is $27,000, according to the collective bargaining agreement between TUGSA and Temple. Philadelphia residents need a salary of around $48,000, before taxes, to meet the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Living Wage Calculator’s standards of a liveable wage.
Economic stability is a concern as the cost of living goes up, especially for international students.
International students can’t work more than 20 hours per week, which means they have to supplement income from other jobs, borrow from family or take out loans, Bonansea said. International students also have to pay around $350 yearly in fees to the university, and some need to factor in the cost of a work visa.
The union also wants to combat the Direct Academic Benefit, a form that graduate research assistants have to sign if they want to receive benefits from the research they conduct. If they sign the form, the member cannot be a part of the collective bargaining agreement.
Union members have complained the DAB is vague and difficult to read. Some feel the form’s language can lead people to incorrectly believe that they aren’t allowed to participate in any TUGSA activities if signed.
Under the agreement between the university and TUGSA, the DAB is described as “(a) receipt of academic credit (i.e., semester hour credit grade, or satisfaction of a degree requirement); or (b) the use of research provided pursuant to the assistantship as a component of a master’s thesis, master’s project or doctoral dissertation, or otherwise for receipt of academic credit.”
The concept of the DAB does not exist at other universities, only at Temple, Bonansea said.
The union also hopes to address concerns about funding for raises. If a graduate student gets an increase to their compensation, the raise is budgeted from the lab itself rather than the university.
“[It] creates kind of like a conflict of interest for people in those labs, because if they endorse the bargaining platform and ask for raises, then that’s taking away their own funding from their lab,” said Bram Silbert, a Ph.D. candidate and organizing member.
The union also believes it does not see enough transparency from the university. When Independence Blue Cross, Temple’s healthcare provider, recently cut their dental benefits, the university did not inform the union. Many members realized the change when procedures like root canals were no longer covered, Silbert said.
The last time TUGSA negotiated a union contract with Temple administration was during the Spring 2023 semester, when the union went on a 42-day strike after the university refused to meet their demands regarding wages, healthcare and better working conditions.
The strike ended in March 2023, after the union ratified its second tentative agreement with the university. The bargaining session was one of the most tumultuous in Temple history.
“TUGSA is a union that strikes,” Fernández Cano said. “That doesn’t mean we do it. That means that Temple has the choice. If they value our work, they value our labor, to engage in good faith discussions around the issues we bring to the table.”
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