Upcoming this Week: Bargaining Session, GMM & More
Table of Contents:
What’s happening this week in the GEO!
Announcements
Dear GEO Member,
Happy Monday! We hope you had a restful weekend despite all the challenges you’re facing. Whether it's working a second or third job to pay for groceries or not knowing how to pay the over 500 dollars in student fees by tomorrow are barriers that we deeply feel every day.
And with that we have our Union, our community of graduate workers like you, that enables us to organize the possibility of a happy and dignifying life. We can only do this when we dream together, build together and we fight together. In today’s GEO-L, in our new format, we announce the events and actions where we need you to help us win a fair contract together.
BARGAINING SESSION #24
Thursday March 2nd 12:45pm-5:30pm @Levis Faculty Center Room 300
For our next bargaining session the admin promised wages and health care proposal. Members at the session felt disappointed, angry and even insulted when admin spent two hours in a caucus only to not bring a proposal on wages and health care after we did. Read the bargaining session summary here, listen to our press conference or podcast and use this template to invite 2-3 friends with you! We really need you there!
General Membership Meeting (GMM) Wednesday March 1st
Wednesday, March 1st 6pm-8pm @English Building Room 259 608 S Wright St, Urbana,
At this meeting, preliminary results of the bargaining survey will be shared, and Bargaining Team will provide bargaining updates and ask for members to win our goals together. Food will be provided and an online option is available by signing up in this form by 3:00pm on Wednesday https://tinyurl.com/HybridGMM-Mar1
SOLIDARITY OPEN HOUSE
Saturday, March 4th from 6pm to 8pm @Channing Murray Foundation
Like others in the predominantly working class CU, we are struggling to pay for food and housing, on top of a national health crisis. The University administration wants to keep the CU community divided and put our health, security, and livelihoods in jeopardy. The only way we can win our contract, just like we have in past years, is with the power of the community, on and off this campus. Now more than ever, we need solidarity among all workers in the community to improve our wages and our lives. Join GEO’s Solidarity Committee for an Open House where we will link up with other unions and activist groups, strengthen our relationships, and boost our power! We will meet at 6 pm at the Channing Murray Foundation (1209 W. Oregon Urbana, IL) on March 4. We will have food, comradery, and a social event afterward. RSVP by March 2nd.
GEO OFFICE HOURS
Need a change of environment to do your academic work or a place to do your GEO activities with other organizers? Join us at GEO Officers and hang out with other GEO members as we work together. Snacks are provided and online options are available on the GEO calendar at uiucgeo.org/calendar
Vote to Endorse Adeline Connor from YDSA for ISG
As a supporter of GEO, YDSA has asked us to potentially endorse their member Adeline Connor for Illinois Student Government. We will be meeting with her during a Solcomm meeting on Wednesday, March 8th at 6pm, online and at the GEO office to meet and learn more about her, followed by a vote by all of you in attendance to vote to endorse her. Please join the meeting if you are interested in learning more about her and voting. Her bio is below.
I am Addey Connor. I am a sophomore in Political science with a concentration in world politics and a minor in music. On campus, I am involved with Young Democratic Socialists of America (YDSA). I held the office as the treasurer last year and am currently serving as a grievance officer. I participate in Illini Student Musicals (ISM), and I work as a lighting assistant at Krannert Center. My time so far at UIUC has brought invaluable growth to me in ways that I will carry through life. I am learning so much from my classes, however the most important things I have learned are from my peers. The population of this University is diverse and offers each student the ability to explore our differences which will expand and shape our growing worldviews. Being in Chambana may seem from an outsider as a small cornfield town, but my world has grown extensively since I began my studies at UIUC. And although these differences are essential to our learning, our differences can also hold some students back individually. A student with a mental illness has a unique viewpoint that deserves to be shared, but what if they struggle to get to class? Or a student who is working their way through college might have to pick up a shift to make rent rather than attend a lecture. Issues like this can not only hinder the learning experience of that person, but it can also take away vital viewpoints from other students. The way to address these issues is to provide better resources to students, but our University routinely ignores students' needs. UIUC needs to be accountable to offices on campus that need more financial assistance to provide essential resources. The fiscal responsibility should not be allocated heavily supporting sports’ coaches or administrative staff while students struggle to get an appointment with the counseling center. I am running for Student Trustee on a platform that supports sufficient funding to resources for students to support our learning. If elected as Trustee, I will vote to ensure that funds benefit students’ experiences. Our student population deserves to live and learn in an environment that is safe, supported, and financially secure so that we can focus on our studies. The college experience can be stressful with the workload alone so let me work to get what we need out of our time at University of Illinois.
In Solidarity,
Graduate Employees’ Organization
809 S. 5th St., Geneva Room
Champaign, IL 61820
Email: geo@uigeo.org