The Graduate Employees’ Organization unanimously voted yesterday to submit the tentative contract reached between GEO and the University for ratification by all members through mail-in ballots.

After months of negotiations, GEO and the University reached an agreement late Thursday night after 15 hours of discussion.

Significant progress was made on Thursday in regards to benefits and wages — the two key issues that remained on the table after a week of negotiations between the two parties.

The tentative contract provides graduate student instructors who work more than 10 hours a week with salary increases that will be the same size as increases provided to LSA faculty. This provides for a minimum 2.5-percent increase next year, and a 3 percent increase for each of the following two years.

Low-fraction graduate student instructors — those who work fewer than 10 hours a week — will receive pay increases based upon the fraction that they work. GSIs who work a .10, .15 or .20 fraction (about 4, 6.5 or 8 hours respectively) will receive a 5-percent increase. Those employed at the lowest fraction, .05, or about 2 hours a week, will receive a 30-percent increase in salary.

“We didn’t get the kind of raises we were looking for, but those with low-fraction appointments were able to get the increases they needed,” GEO President Dave Dobbie said.

Despite GEO’s salary gains, it could not convince the University to accept its proposed “designated beneficiaries” to avoid a potential loss of same-sex partner benefits that could accompany a lawsuit under Proposal 2.

A designated beneficiary would be eligible to receive the same benefits given to GEO members if the individual shared some life elements with the GEO member, such as a joint bank account or a child.

“The University refused to discuss the issue (of designated beneficiaries) at all. We were not able to get any traction at the table. It didn’t work out for this negotiation,“ Dobbie said.

The University instead has included a memorandum of understanding in the contract that states that the University and GEO will renegotiate partner benefits if any state court rules against them.

GEO succeeded in its demands for expanded health care benefits.

The University has agreed to pay half the premiums of low-fraction GSIs for the GradCare health plan. The University has also guaranteed that it will not increase GradCare co-pays more than $5 for the life of the three-year contract.

Health benefits will be provided for the spring and summer for GSIs who are employed during both fall and winter terms. No-cost dental insurance at the start of employment has also been included in the new contract. In the previous contract, dental insurance was available after a two-term wait period. Life insurance will also be provided at no cost to GSIs up to the benefit level of $30,000.

Progress was also made in addressing concerns that international GSIs were being unfairly tested for their teaching abilities rather than their English skills. The University has promised to make improvements to testing and provide a pre-test that will allow for international GSIs who perform well to opt out of certain training requirements during the winter term.

The contract also states that for all incoming international GSIs, the University will pay the $100 fee for SEVIS — a government database that maintains information on international students and visitors. The contract reduces the maximum number of hours .5-fraction GSIs can work from 22 to 20 to allow international students with certain visas to be eligible for child care subsidies and other jobs.

Under the new contract, GSIs with children will receive childcare subsidies that have a $50 increase from the previous contract. GSIs will receive $1,750 for the first child and $900 for each subsequent child.

One of the significant gains for GEO was the inclusion of gender identity and gender expression in the anti-discrimination clause of the contract. GEO and the University also agreed to a three-year contract that ends on March 1, 2008, even though the University was attempting to bind GEO to a four-year contract that would end in April 2009.

University spokeswoman Julie Peterson said that the new contract represents a major improvement for GEO over the last contract.

“An incredible amount of hard work went into those negotiations last week. They solved a lot of difficult issues. We’re very pleased that any more work stoppages were averted,” she said.

GEO had planned a membership meeting yesterday for a final vote on an open-ended strike if significant progress with the University had not been made after the one-day walkout more than a week ago.