IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – The University of Iowa graduate student union is praising a legal decision requiring the university to bargain over student fee reimbursements. The union, which represents 2,300 teaching and research assistants, said Tuesday the ruling strengthens its campaign to have members reimbursed for their mandatory student fees.

In its new two-year contract, the union negotiated a provision reimbursing members 25 percent of fees – about $250 out of $1,000 a full-time student pays annually. The union will push for additional reimbursements in future contracts. During negotiations, the Iowa Board of Regents argued that student fee reimbursements were not a mandatory subject for bargaining. The Iowa Public Employment Relations Board ruled that they were.

District Judge Karen Romano rejected the regents’ appeal Friday, saying reimbursements are “supplemental pay” that must be negotiated.