The Graduate Institute: Academic excellence, and precarious labour practices

By the Association des Assistant-e-s, on behalf of Teaching Assistants

If you have a question about a course, who do you reach out to? If you want to check your essay outline, who do you reach out to? If you want to get feedback on your paper, who has read it? The answer to these questions will often be your Teaching Assistant (TA). Although it is a job that many of us thoroughly enjoy, it comes with a bitter aftertaste when realising that TAs at the Institute are the worst paid in all of Switzerland. Besides directly impacting the quality of your education, the current contract, implemented a number of years ago now, has one further effect: contrary to the Institute’s vision of equity and diversity, TAs are kept in a position of precarity; furthermore, these effects are unequally distributed depending on nationality, gender, socio-economic background, age, and discipline.

TAs, represented by the Association des Assistant-e-s (ADA) and the Syndicat Interprofessionnel des Travailleuses et Travailleurs (SIT), have been pushing for better contractual conditions since 2020. But thus far, no credible steps have been taken by IHEID towards proposing, let alone enacting, a positive solution. As a result, we, the ADA, with the support of SIT, have now started a petition to our employers and the Grand Conseil of the State of Geneva asking for substantive improvements to TAs’ contractual conditions.

This saga began many years ago, when TAs had a part-time contract of around 3,000 CHF per month. Adjusting to the broader Swiss trend of including time devoted to PhD research in the contract, this was raised to 100% in 2016. But simultaneously, the Institute removed a large part of our salary and reassigned it rather as a scholarship fund, for which the Institute does not pay any social contributions. As a result, the total net remuneration for TAs was lower than the full-time minimum wage introduced in Geneva in 2020. This move was noted by the Swiss Accreditation Council (SAA), the governmental body that accredits universities, which in response recommended the improvement of TAs contractual conditions.

Despite SAA recommendations and the ADA’s and TAs’ efforts, in June 2022, the Direction decided to reduce the activity rate of TA contracts for the next academic year from 100% to 45%. This was because it was said that our PhD research is considered a ‘personal passion project’, outside of our university post. One of the many direct consequences of this decision has been that those with children have lost access to state-sponsored childcare as they fall below the minimum required activity level.

The approach of the Institute is unique in Switzerland and within the Institute itself. Research Assistants (RAs) at the Institute receive a 100% contract, fully remunerated through a wage. By comparison, TAs at the Institute receive roughly 3,000 CHF less than IHEID RAs and between 4,000 and 12,000 CHF less than TAs employed at the University of Geneva, excluding the value of social contributions.

With Geneva being one of the most expensive cities in the world, housing is almost impossible to find on this salary, and TAs have indicated that they will have to postpone medical and preventive health care and, for some, put family plans on hold. These issues have disproportionally affected those with physical or mental health needs, women, and young parents.

But all these issues could be addressed by dedicating less than 1% of the Institute’s budget to TAs. After years of rejection by the Direction, TA representatives sought to start negotiating for better employment conditions in 2022. The first meeting was planned for November 8th but was cancelled by the Direction less than an hour in advance. Consequently, TA representatives reached out to the Foundation Board and the Departement de l’Instruction Publique (DIP), and a press conference was organised. The Direction did not offer any alternative meeting dates to negotiate, and TA representatives filed a request for a conciliation meeting at the Chambre des Relations Collectives de Travail (CRCT). Thanks to this process, the direction was forced to hold a minimum of three negotiation meetings in February and March to address the TAs’ four main demands. These are:The replacement of the distinction within the remuneration between the scholarship and the wage by a single salary in order to obtain adequate access to housing and full social protection

1. The increase in net pay to improve the precarious living conditions of TAs
2. The increase in the activity rate is necessary in order to ensure full social protection, to reflect the reality of assistants’ work at the Institute and in comparable institutions, and to not create inequalities between TAs and RAs at the Institute
3. The reconversion of the newly created and more precarious “ARP tutor” contracts into TA contracts

However, the Direction continues to refuse to meet any of the TAs’ demands or share any information on the allocation of the Institute’s partially public budget.

Given the lack of progress, today we will be delivering a petition to the Institute and to the Grand Conseil of Geneva. Please do not hesitate to reach out to us for any questions or doubts, or in case you want to get involved.

TAs’ working conditions are students’ studying conditions; let’s fight together for a fairer and more diverse Institute!