Graduate students have decided to keep their student union representation in an online vote.
Out of a total 440 votes, 244 voted against dissolution and 157 voted in favour.
The vote was prompted by a petition for dissolution from two executive members of the Teaching Assistant Association of Memorial University (TAUMUN) that cited the significant debt owed by Memorial’s Graduate Student Union (GSU).
GSU owes $1.6 million to its healthcare provider, Greenshield, and $355,260 to the Canadian Federation of Students’s (CFS) national and provincial chapters.
Since the release of the petition, GSU announced that it has negotiated a new benefits agreement with Prosum, Greenshield’s parent company, that will serve as a repayment plan.
Students are set to pay the same rates but with reduced coverage.
Compared to the previous year, prescription maximum coverage will be reduced from $10,000 to $2,500 per benefit year with the introduction of a 20% copay.
Dental maximum coverage will be reduced from $1000 to $750 with the introduction of a 20% co-pay.
Under this agreement, the $1.6 million debt will be cleared within four years
In a joint statement from CFS National Chairperson Mary Feltham and CFS-NL Chairperson Nicolas Keough say that GSU’s $355,260 debt to its provincial and federal will be repayed over 10 years.
