Students have voted to keep the Graduate Students Union at MUN going. A vote on whether to dissolve the union was held on Wednesday, and the results were verified yesterday.

With a two-thirds majority needed to pass, the union says it was a “decisive” vote to maintain the GSU.

In total, 244 students voted against dissolution and 157 voted in favour.

The motion was first introduced in March by about 50 graduate students who were concerned that the union was nearly $2 million dollars in debt, as well as other issues related to transparency and long-term financial mismanagement.

Since that time, the union has negotiated a deal with GreenShield that will see the $1.6 million owed to the insurance provider paid off over the next four years, and allow it to maintain its health and dental plan.

The union’s Executive Director of Communications, Gaayathri Sukantha Murugan, says while they are “extremely happy and relieved” about the decision, they understand that “trust has been broken in recent years” and they will be working to restore that trust and put the union in a better financial position.