GEO Impact Bargaining Updates
Introduction to Impact Bargaining:
The GEO COVID-19 Impact Bargaining (IB) Team continues to negotiate crucial issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic. As we continue COVID-19 negotiations, the IB Team requests GEO members’ input, support, and participation in future conversations and direct actions. We will announce a second Impact Bargaining General Membership Meeting shortly to work towards this objective. Please contact geo@uigeo.org if you have questions about impact bargaining or would like to get involved.
On Friday, August 21st, the IB Team met with university administration for the seventh time to negotiate various issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the following section, you will find our current recommendations regarding working conditions and the pandemic along with a summary of our recent bargaining session. Click here for a comprehensive list of GEO’s recommendations related to COVID-19.
Outcomes and updates from the most recent Impact Bargaining Session (8/21):
During the bargaining session on Friday, August 21st, the university administration reiterated that twice weekly COVID-19 testing is still a requirement for all graduate workers. However, on Sunday, August 23, a COVID Wellness email was sent out announcing: “If you are an employee who is not planning to come to campus, or a student living outside of Champaign, Urbana or Savoy who is taking all classes online, you will not be required to be tested. Any employee or student coming to campus for any length of time must be tested in accordance with current campus requirements.” The IB Team is now seeking to confirm that graduate workers who are not planning to come to campus are exempt from mandatory twice weekly testing. There is some ambiguity given our dual-status as students and employees. Until we receive confirmation from university administration, we advise complying with the twice weekly testing requirement.
This requirement has been a concern to many GEO members who have no reason to come to campus beyond testing, particularly those with disabilities or who are immunocompromised. The GEO believes that requiring grad workers who are working and learning entirely off-campus to travel to campus for testing will increase their risk of exposure to COVID-19. Additionally, all other faculty and staff who are working from home are NOT required to be tested twice weekly. We have repeatedly communicated these concerns to the administration.
Testing Exemptions and Accommodations: You can request a medical exemption from the required twice weekly testing. To do so, log into the MyMckinley system, click on “Forms” at the top of the page, and fill out the testing exemption form. You may also contact the Office of Access and Equity to request accommodations as an employee.
If you are not eligible for accommodations or exemption due to disability but are still worried about how this requirement will affect your health and your life, contact the Chancellor’s Office and express your concerns with anyone who answers the phone. Speaking with a person is always better than leaving a voicemail, and there is no wrong person to express your concerns to. Please also contact geo@uigeo.org
If you will be participating in any on-campus activities this Fall, please comply with this twice-weekly mandated saliva testing. Please also complete the short COVID-19 online training before August 24. The procedures for testing positive were outlined in a massmail on August 19th.
All time spent related to campus testing (traveling to and from testing sites, waiting in line, and completing testing) is paid work time. Include this time in calculations of your work hours.
Technology Loan Program: The university has instituted a technology loan program for the Fall semester, and we strongly encourage all members to take advantage of it.
Work you do for the university should be done on university equipment, according to article X, clause D of our contract: “A department or unit will provide access to supplies and equipment as necessary to fulfill the assistant’s work obligation without cost to the assistant.”
Additionally, the GEO continues to demand a tech subsidy to reimburse all graduate workers for the personal expenses accrued during the switch to online work in the spring and summer semesters. The university administration continues to refuse to abide by the GEO contract, which states in Article XI clause B, that “[Graduate] Assistants shall not be expected to pay for equipment necessary for the fulfillment of work-related duties.” We especially request GEO members’ input and support regarding future work actions on this issue.
The GEO IB Team recommends NOT downloading or using the Safer Illinois App. Instead, we recommend using the Boarding Pass system if you must enter a campus building. Graduate workers/students are NOT required to download the Safer Illinois App, and the university administration has not addressed major concerns related to privacy, data use, and disciplinary actions related to the app.
The IB Team is bargaining for all graduate workers to have the right to choose whether to work on campus or online during the fall semester.
During our conversation, the administration agreed to draft language that would give graduate instructors of record the ability to choose whether or not to teach face-to-face or online this fall (which is the policy in place for non-tenure-track and tenure-track faculty).
However, the university administration held firm in their stance that, in some cases where work cannot be done online, supervisors would still be able to require graduate workers to report to campus.
While we continue to bargain this issue, please contact us at geo@uigeo.org if you are a TA or GA who is being forced to work on campus against your will.
The GEO IB Team requested additional information about COVID-19 response planning and union representation on COVID-19 decision-making committees.
The university administration continued to refuse our demand for formal GEO representation on university COVID-19 planning committees as a way to represent the concerns of GEO members and to streamline communication between the university and union members.
The IB Team requested university-wide communication regarding positive COVID-19 cases detected through campus testing. Although administration initially pushed back against this request during the bargaining session, a massmail was sent out announcing a plan for campus-wide communication about positive cases. Beginning tomorrow, daily test results will be posted on the UIUC COVID-19 website.
The IB Team requested information about the process for shutting down campus and transitioning to fully online learning. As recent massmails indicate, the university could anticipate a shutdown in as soon as 2 weeks.
Administration informed us there have been 7 positive cases of COVID-19 identified among campus employees as of Friday, August 21. However, a Chicago Tribune article states that around 100 positive cases have been detected on campus through campus testing during move-in week.
Despite GEO’s repeated concerns about the safety of in-person instruction, the university administration is still planning to hold 33% of coursework with face-to-face instruction. GEO’s position remains that all courses should be conducted online if technologically feasible, and we believe that 33% of courses being taught face-to-face is unnecessarily putting the lives of students, faculty, and staff at risk. The administration continues to ignore these demands.
During the session, the IB team presented administration with a side letter listing the agreements between the university and the union thus far related to COVID-19, including emergency paid sick leave, restrictions on the student recording of Zoom courses, and other workplace protections. Please see previous GEO-Ls for more information.
In Solidarity,
Graduate Employees’ Organization
809 S. 5th St., Geneva Room
Champaign, IL 61820
Email: geo@uigeo.org