Graduate Employees' Organization at UIUC
GEO Local 6300 IFT/AFT AFL-CIO at The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

2017-2018 Bargaining Session Summaries

Seventeenth Bargaining Session

***83 days since our contract expired on August 15!***

Today, the GEO Bargaining Team (BT) and the UIUC Administration held their seventeenth bargaining session / fifth mediation session. Once again, the Administration refused to make substantial movement toward our proposals.

Please read below for more information on what happened today and what comes next.

  • The Administration still wants us to reduce our financial proposals, especially wages, but we refused. They want us to reduce our own proposals rather than giving us meaningful proposals of their own. We’ve provided extensive rationale and data for our proposals justifying our proposals, but they haven’t done the same for us.

  • The Administration finally indicated some willingness to honor an arbitration decision from January 2016 and pay back some MCS graduates who were denied access to tuition waivers. They are still not willing to pay back all affected graduates, but this is a positive step. We are working to resolve this for as many graduate employees as possible to make sure they get the money they are owed. If you’re interested in learning more about the MCS arbitration, check out this article published in the Public i.

  • After initially proposing deep cuts to our current language on appointment terms, the Administration has begun to move back towards status quo. However, a lot of work still needs to be done to reach an agreement. The Administration is still pushing us to abandon our ability to grieve late appointment letters.

  • The Administration is still refusing to acknowledge the importance of our tuition waivers. They have again proposed their earlier side letter that would allow them to reduce tuition waiver protections and undercut our bargaining unit.

What Comes Next: Join us in fighting for a fair contract!

General Membership Meeting: Strike Planning and Mediation Update

The meeting will be on Thursday, November 9, 6:30-7:30pm, at the Channing Murray Foundation (1209 W Oregon Street, Urbana). Food and childcare will be provided. Come and help GEO get the contract you want! Here is a link to the Facebook event for the GMMs.

We encourage you to make it a priority to attend these weekly GMMs in order for us all to work together to get the contract that we want.

NEXT BARGAINING SESSION:

The session is tentatively scheduled for November 16th. All members are welcome to attend for part or all of the session. You can also find more information about bargaining on our website.

If you have questions about bargaining or the BT’s proposal, attending a meeting is the best way to address them. You can reach us at barg@uigeo.org.

Are you a member?

Our members are why we succeed at the bargaining table! If you haven’t signed a membership card yet, don’t delay! Contact us at geo@uigeo.org to sign a membership card. If you’re not sure of your membership status, please ask!

See the GEO event calendar for future BT meetings, bargaining sessions, and other events. Add it to your Google calendar by searching for geo@uigeo.org.

Follow GEO Online:

Website: www.uigeo.org

Twitter: @geo_uiuc

Facebook: @uigeo @geosolcomm

Instagram: @geo_uiuc

Text the word “GEO” to 69238 to receive periodic messages concerning crucial bargaining updates and other urgent information. Msg & data rates may apply. Text STOP to 69238 to stop receiving messages. Text HELP to 69238 for more information. Terms & Conditions.

Communications Committee