Bargaining Research Survey and GMM Next Week
Table of Contents:
Announcements
Bargaining Research Survey
October General Membership Meeting
JOIN A GEO COMMITTEE!
CONNECT WITH GEO!
Take the Bargaining Research Survey to Help Us Bargain in 2020!
The Bargaining Research Team needs to hear from you!
The GEO will be bargaining over wages in Spring 2020. As part of our newest employee contract, we can, among other things, renegotiate our monthly pay with the university this spring. The wages we receive as TAs, RAs, GAs, and PGAs are all affected by both the minimum wage and reappointment increase that the GEO negotiates.
Throughout our history, our union has managed to secure pay increases for all graduate workers. After adjusting for inflation, our minimum pay has increased by 13.4%, and such increases also help improve the pay of grads who make more than the minimum. But these pay increases were only possible due to our combined efforts as graduate workers.
To prepare for bargaining, the Bargaining Research Team (BRT) needs to hear from you! The BRT is a group of fellow graduate workers, who are gathering data about graduate pay so that our Bargaining Team is better able to advocate for what we need as employees, as we enter wage negotiations.
Please take our 10-15-minute survey to let us know how far your wages go. This data will be stored anonymously, and can help us to better understand the breakdown of graduate wages.
Completing this survey will help us 1) understand the needs of the diverse graduate employees we represent, and 2) demonstrate our needs to the administration when we reach the bargaining table.
We need ALL graduate employees (TAs, GAs, RAs, PGAs, students on fellowship, and unemployed students) to take this survey, regardless of GEO membership status. Please share this email with fellow graduate workers you know who may not already be members. Let’s bargain a fair wage for our labor!
If you’re interested in the kind of research BRT is working on and would like to lend a helping hand, please feel free to email us at barg@uigeo.org!
Our October General Membership Meeting will be held on Tuesday, October 22nd at the Channing Murray Foundation. We will have two meeting times to accommodate busy schedules, a lunch meeting from 12-1pm and an evening meeting from 6-7pm. Food and childcare will be provided!
We will be discussing some updates about Spring 2020 bargaining, the upcoming IFT convention, the ongoing payroll/dues deduction issues, and RA/PGA unionization.
JOIN A GEO COMMITTEE!
We are a member-run union; we depend on the commitment of our members to stay as strong as possible. You can find details about what each committee does and how to contact them on our website. No special knowledge is required. You can also follow the calendar of events on our website for the date and time of upcoming meetings: http://uiucgeo.org/calendar. Meetings are open to membership, and coming to a meeting does not commit you to joining a committee.
Upcoming meetings:
Healthcare Working Group (health@uigeo.org) - Contact email for more
Stewards’ Council (sc@uigeo.org) - Monday October 21, 6-7:30pm
Finance Committee (treasurer@uigeo.org) - Contact email for more
Solidarity Committee (solcomm@uigeo.org) - Wednesday October 23, 5:30-7pm
Grievance Committee (grievance@uigeo.org) - Wednesday October 23, 2-3 pm
Communications Committee (commcomm@uigeo.org) - Tuesday October 29, 6-7pm
Coordinating Committee (cc@uigeo.org) - Monday October 28, 4-5:30pm
RA/PGA Working Group (geo@uigeo.org) - Contact email for more
Bargaining Research Team (barg@uigeo.org) - Contact email for more
CONNECT WITH GEO!
Have comments about the GMM? Other kinds of feedback for us? We want to hear it! Reply to this email or use our anonymous google form. You can also get in touch through our website and social media:
Website: www.uiucgeo.org
Twitter: @geo_uiuc
Facebook: @uigeo @geosolcomm
Instagram: @geo_uiuc
In Solidarity,
Graduate Employees’ Organization
809 S. 5th St., Geneva Room
Champaign, IL 61820
Email: geo@uigeo.org