GEO is Bargaining Your Wages! Get Happy!
Table of Contents:
Announcements
2020 Wage Reopener
Impact Bargaining
Events
GEO Happy Hour
JOIN A GEO COMMITTEE!
CONNECT WITH GEO!
ANNOUNCEMENTS
2020 Wage Reopener
We have received a date to begin bargaining our wages this year! The first bargaining session will be on February 17th, 2020 at Levis Faculty Center (919 W Illinois St, Urbana) Rooms 208 and 210 from 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM. All members are welcome -- and we want you there!
Bargaining Session attendees: We will provide information on site, but keep in mind:
Bring work if you want to--your mere presence in the room is powerful!
If you can arrive 15-30 minutes early (9:30-45) to learn the bargaining room ground rules and get situated, that would be great. However:
You may attend whenever you’re free, even if you can’t stay for the entire session.
Do not speak to University Administration negotiators out of turn. All communications will be coordinated through a point person on the Bargaining Team (BT).
Do not feel pressured to disclose anything about yourself to the admin team.
Do not take photographs, audio or video record the session.
For our new members who may not know, in Spring 2018 the GEO secured a new contract with the university after 12 days of striking (the longest strike by any union in UIUC history!). One of the main functions of the GEO is to bargain the contract that the university makes with graduate employees (see our Bargaining FAQ for info). During the last bargaining cycle, we secured raises to graduate employee wages (see our General GEO FAQ). After the strike, graduate employees saw an average raise in their salaries of 5%, but some saw up to 7.5% raises. In the “Wages” section of your contract with the university (Article XIV), we secured language for a wage reopener in the last two years of the contract cycle. This means, as of the current Spring 2020 semester, GEO has the right to “reopen” the contract to bargain higher wages for the 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 school years. If GEO does not bargain a raise for 2020-2021 and 2021-2022, Bargaining Unit wages will remain at the current dollar amount for the next two years! “Bargaining Unit” means all TAs and GAs, whether or not they are card-signed members of the union. However, the University has historically raised wages for all graduate workers (i.e. RAs and PGAs) to meet (or exceed) the new minimum wage percentages that the GEO has bargained for BU members.
Here is a link to your contract; if you have more questions about how contract negotiations work or are interested in getting involved (thank you!) feel free to drop by our office (809 S 5th St., Champaign, IL, 61820) or send us an email at geo@uigeo.org.
Impact Bargaining
You may recall receiving an email from System HR Services on January 15th mentioning the “New Illinois Statute Affecting Public Sector Employers and Unions.” This statue, Public Act 101-0620, generally provides protections for labor unions following the rollback wrought by the 2018 Supreme Court decision, Janus v. AFSCME. However, GEO has to negotiate how exactly the provisions of the law will be implemented by University Administration. This “impact bargaining” largely revolves around the administrative side of union operations. See our FAQ on Impact Bargaining to understand what it is, why it matters, and how it is different from the bargaining we will be doing for our wage reopener later this month.
We had our first impact bargaining session with HR this past Wednesday (2/5/20), and other unions on campus are doing the same. There is potential for some positive changes for the union, but the bargaining process will take several sessions.
What to Do
Come to discuss impact bargaining (and/or wage reopener bargaining) in our extended GMM 2/26/20
Volunteer to help with data management in the GEO Office with Staff--we are considering creating a new Officer position to deal with union data!
If you are interested in knowing more or attending impact bargaining sessions, please contact the union at: geo@uigeo.org
EVENTS
GEO Happy Hour
Join us today, February 7th from 5-7pm (17-19:00) at the Blind Pig(let) for drinks (half off) and chats! Invite friends and colleagues, and feel free to bring snacks (Blind Pig is BYOF).
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) - Tuesday February 18, 5:30-6:30pm
Finance Committee (treasurer@uigeo.org) - Contact email for more
Solidarity Committee (solcomm@uigeo.org) - Friday February 7, 4:30-6pm
Grievance Committee (grievance@uigeo.org) - Contact email for more
Communications Committee (commcomm@uigeo.org) - Thursday February 13, 4:30-5:30pm
Coordinating Committee (cc@uigeo.org) - Monday February 17, 4-5:30pm
RA/PGA Working Group (geo@uigeo.org) - Contact email for more
Bargaining Team (barg@uigeo.org) - Tuesday, February 11, 5-7:30pm
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