Dive Brief:
- Graduate students at University of California schools report they’ve negotiated the right to have gender-neutral restrooms and access to lactation stations for breast-feeding mothers.
- The rights are established in tentative contract language negotiated between the University of California system and the Graduate Student Workers-United union, according to Inside Higher Ed.
- Because the graduate students work throughout the California system, the contract language would effectively establish access for other students, faculty, and employees at California schools.
Dive Insight:
This is seen as an important step for increasing education access for transgender students. Graduate students at University of California schools, who have been working without a contract since November, are still negotiating their labor contract. The tentative language calls for the university to provide access to gender-neutral bathrooms within a reasonable distance of their workplace. Inside Higher Ed quotes a source as saying that the language could set a precedent for advancing campus issues through labor contract negotiations.