AMHERST - About five dozen members of the Graduate Employee Organization-United Autor Workers 2322 rallied on campus Thursday asking for fair contracts and to have them settled by the end of the semester.

Contracts for the union at the University of Massachusetts expired last year and union members have been negotiating since June. They say while UMass has made some concessions, they are not enough.

Among the demans, the union wants 5 percent hikes over three years including those who teach online classes.

UMass is offering 1.75 percent every six months or 3.5 percent a year, but 1 percent hikes to those teaching online classes.

For Luke Pretz, an economic graduate student, that stipulation is particularly disturbing, especially because online programs help the university make money.

Plus he said, departments are having to cut back meaning graduate assistants have larger classes to teach and students aren't getting the attention they used to get.

Another concern is health care. For individuals the union wants $1,000 out of pocket maximum with $50 deductible and $10 to $20 in copays and inpatient services, and surgery covered 100 percent after the deductible is paid.

UMass wants $1,500 out of pocket retroactive to last year, $250 deductible union members to pay 10 percent co-insurance on diagnostics and imaging, impatient care including childbirth.

For families, the union wants $3,000 out of pocket maximum and UMass $4,500.

Pretz said that's unfair and that the way it's written, union members would have to pay up to $5,000 for this provision. He said that's about a third of what union members earn.

While the gathering was relatively small - there are about 2,500 union members - Santiago Valdes, a negotiating team member, said many graduate students were either teaching or in labs they couldn't leave.

After the rally in front of the Student Union, union members paraded around campus calling attention to their plight. They wanted prospective students and their families to learn about their union difficulties.

Last week, the Massachusetts Society of Professors filed a Charge of Prohibited Practices against UMass, saying the university has refused to pay out negotiated salary increases.

UMass spokesman Edward Blaguszewski in an email said "the university is bargaining in good faith and desires to reach a fair and equitable contract."