Officer Elections Coming up, Backpay Information and more!
Table of Contents:
Announcements:
What’s upcoming in the GEO!
Upcoming Officer Elections
The GEO Coordinating Committee (CC) is currently soliciting nominations for each of the officer positions listed below:
Co-Presidents
Treasurer(s)
Secretary
Chair(s) of Communications Committee
Chair(s) of Grievance Committee
Chair(s) of Solidarity Committee
Officer(s) at Large
Many of the positions have tentative commitments from candidates, but some do not! You can find more information about the union’s committees here. Check out Articles VII, VIII and IX of GEO’s constitution which lists the officer roles and duties for more information. If you’re interested in running, please contact the CC at geo@uigeo.org.
Nominations will be accepted until the General Membership meeting on April 26 (time and location for this meeting will be announced soon; check our socials and your email for more information!) After the CC has accepted your nomination, GEO will also make every effort to share any campaign/election materials with membership.
GEO will be conducting the election electronically, using ElectionRunner.
If you are a GEO member, you will receive an email invitation at your illinois.edu email address to participate in the GEO’s officer elections. The online polling will take place on April 27 and April 28. If you do not receive your login information by April 27, please contact us providing your name, netID, and a non-UIUC email address you wish us to use for the elections.
Information About Back Pay
As you might be aware, as part of our recently-concluded contract negotiations, we have bargained a new minimum wage and reappointment raise for TAs and GAs. This also includes raises applied retroactively from August 2022 onwards for graduate workers who were TAs or GAs in Fall 2022, Spring 2023 or both. However, the new pay and retroactive pay will not be reflected in your April paycheck, but rather in your May paycheck. There will be another email later in April where we will explain how to check your eligibility for the raise and retroactive pay, how to calculate them, and what to do if you don’t receive them in May!
Committee Interest Form
Interested in joining a committee for GEO? Check out our website for more information about what each committee does and fill out this form so we can get you connected to the right people. Whether you want to have a conversation about what committee membership would entail or you are definitely interested in joining, let us know!
Black and Latinx/a/o/e Grad Interest Form
In the spirit of celebration of our contract ratification, GEO recognizes that as a predominantly white Union there are specific challenges that Black and Brown people face to make their voices heard, build community of friends and colleagues and fight for their interests and empowerment of our respective communities. We plan to change this intentionally and democratically by planning a social event and academic support event to prepare for finals and developing a series of policies and accountability systems to diversity and increase the participation of our community in the Union. Please fill out this form if you're a grad worker/student that identifies as Black and/or Latinx/a/o/e/ and share widely with other folxs in the community. You DO NOT have to be GEO member to fill out the form nor participate.
Spring Party NEXT Friday
Join us at the Independent Media Center (202 S Broadway Ave #203, Urbana, IL 61801) on April 21st from 8PM to 12AM and raise a glass to wage increases, back pay, summer and dependent healthcare and much more! We will provide pizza and drinks. There will also be karaoke, party games, and lots of dancing! Our party is for GEO members only! You can tell your friends to sign a card here https://uiucgeo.org/join or at the door during the party.
Image description: a flyer with light orange background and text that “Come celebrate our new contract!!” Next line read “Free food & drinks!”. The following line has the date “Friday, 21st April 2023”. In the middle of the flyer is big boldened font that reads “Spring into Better Pay Party”. Underneath is the address “Independent Media Center 202 S Broadway Avenue” followed by the next line that reads “8pm-12am”. At the bottom left is GEO logo. At the bottom center is “Grad students only uiucgeo.org”
. In Solidarity,
Graduate Employees’ Organization
809 S. 5th St., Geneva Room
Champaign, IL 61820
Email: geo@uigeo.org