Summary Bargaining Session #22
Bargaining Session TL;DR/Summary
UIUC Admin presented a package counter-proposal on Appointment Terms, Evaluations, Hours of Work, and Expenses.
GEO presented a package proposal on Orientation and Training, Employee Rights, and Labor Management Meetings and Consultations
GEO made significant movement, including dropping our proposal for English Proficiency exam exemptions with the aim of winning improvements to overwork and other working conditions.
GEO will negotiate economic items at our next bargaining session Thursday Feb 16.
What happened in the session?
GEO came to the bargaining table making significant movement on our proposals with the goal of advancing negotiations. After hearing members’ concerns and feedback, our Bargaining Team, led by negotiators Nachiketa Adhikari (Math) and Sam Froiland (History), dropped our proposals on English Proficiency exemptions, the reclassification of jobs, and some remote work language, with the hope of winning improvements to overwork in Hours of Work and working conditions in Employee Rights.
GEO held to its proposal to define overwork more clearly and allow graduate workers to grieve overwork violations within a 30-day window, significantly improving vague status quo language. GEO also held to its proposal that supervisors engage in scheduled, rather than unscheduled, observations of classes, that graduate workers have internet access in the workplace, and that GEO have access to speak at departmental and international student orientations.
Despite GEO’s eagerness to advance negotiations, the administration’s lead negotiator Robb Craddock made no significant movement on any article and stated, “maybe the progress is creeping to a halt.”
However, GEO will continue to move forward. We plan to bring a proposal to the next bargaining session that will address the most pressing economic issues faced by GEO’s membership, including wages, fees, and healthcare.
What are members saying?
One of our members, Sami Lampe (Musicology), has been overworked due to ambiguities with our old contract. This is her statement that speaks to the importance of overwork protections article in the GEO’s proposal:
“In my attempts to determine whether I have been overworked as a TA, I have often struggled to define what is expected of me. Since I log my hours, I know that I have worked more than my expected twenty hours multiple times and the university does not provide a clear definition for what it means to be overworked. The GEO’s proposal to have a 30-day period to prove that TAs are being overworked would help because the issues would hopefully be resolved within a single semester, and our jobs would be manageable in the long term. …I was expected to teach all six sections, 150 students, at the same time without any decrease in the number of tasks that were expected of me. … I worked on average 25-28 hours a week. Since I did not have a professor to rely on, I had to complete the tasks, or the students could not finish the course.”
What can my co-workers and I do?
The Union runs democratically, and we make decisions collectively. Participating in GEO events and organizing activities helps increase our bargaining power and gives you an opportunity to meet fellow graduate workers!
Attend our next General Membership Meeting: Our next General Membership Meeting (GMM) will be key in helping us build power with organizing tasks and discussing bargaining updates. We hope to see you next Wednesday, February 15th, 7:00PM-9:00PM at Room 126 of the Library and Information Sciences Building (501 E Daniel St, Champaign, IL). Do you have a comment or idea you want to share? Fill out the form https://tinyurl.com/GMMComment
The flyer contains information about the General Membership Meeting(GMM) happening next week on Wednesday. The colors in flyer are yellow, blue and black. The flyer has the GEO logo at the right top. The subtitle reads “New Year New Contract”. Below the subtitle is the information about time and medium of the GMM. The GMM will be conducted in a hybrid fashion with in-person and virtual options. The date and time are February 15 and from 7-9:00 PM. The in-person event happens at room 126 at 501 East Daniel St. For attending virtually, members should request from https://tinyurl.com/HybridGMM-Feb15. The topics that will be discussed are building power & bargaining strategy. To submit a topic, you can request at https://tinyurl.com/GMMTopicProp and any comments can be taken at https://tinyurl.com/GMMComment.
Attend our next bargaining session on 02/16/23: Join us for our next bargaining session on Thursday, February 16th, 10:45 AM-3:30 PM at Illini Union Ballroom. Bring a friend, tell colleagues in your department! We will discuss wages and health care. Sign up for a role here: https://linktr.ee/geobarg
[image description: light purple background with megaphone on top right and GEO logo on top left. Middle top title reads “FEBRUARY BARGAINING SESSIONS” in black. The next two respective lines read “SESSION #21 3RD/2/2023 12:45PM-5:30PM Illini Union Rooms A&B; SESSION #22 10TH/2/2023 12:45PM-5:30PM Illini Union Ballroom are crossed with a red X; SESSION #23 16TH/2/2023 10:45PM-3:30PM Illini Union Ballroom.” Below, center, black text reading “This is it! We cannot WIN without YOU showing up for OUR grad community. The University only works because we do!” At the bottom small writing in black reads “Childcare, food & coffee provided.”]
No new episode of After Bargaining this week
No episode this week. Stay tuned for new updates. Meanwhile, you can listen to our previous episodes and share this flyer with your friends and colleagues. Short, crisp, and to the point.
[image description: light purple background with GEO on top right. Middle top title reads “HAVE YOU MISSED RECENT BARGAINING SESSIONS?” in black. Below it is the After Bargaining Logo. The next three respective lines read, “THE GRADUATE EMPLOYEES ORGANIZATION HAS A PODCAST”. Below, center, QR Code. Left of it is an image of a microphone. Below QR Code in is a link: “https://tinyurl.com/yc8kszu6” in white. Below that in black text reading “After Bargaining Podcast is available on Spotify, Apple, Anchor FM, and many other platforms.”]
In Solidarity,
Graduate Employees’ Organization
809 S. 5th St., Geneva Room
Champaign, IL 61820
Email: geo@uigeo.org