COVID-19 Recommendations and Updates from your Union
Table of Contents:
August 14, 2020:
The document below has been compiled by the GEO COVID-19 Impact Bargaining Team (IBT). It reflects the state of our current bargaining with the UIUC administration and our recommendations for graduate workers, based on our current knowledge.
All GEO members are invited to a General Membership Meeting on Wednesday, August 19 at 6:30 pm CST to discuss these issues and more. RSVP to attend.
Regarding the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, in the interest of protecting the safety, wellbeing, financial interests, and quality of life of our bargaining unit members, and all members of the Champaign-Urbana community, the Graduate Employees’ Organization (GEO) has the following recommendations for all grad workers:
General Health and Safety
Work remotely during the fall semester, if at all possible, for your own safety and to reduce the spread of COVID-19.
The Impact Bargaining Team is arguing that all grad workers must be given the choice of whether they want to do their work remotely or on campus this fall. However, UIUC has argued that this decision is solely up to the supervisor. This issue is still under negotiation.
If you are being forced to work on campus and you do not want to do so, please contact us at GEO@uigeo.org.
Make use of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) sick leave as needed.
Graduate workers are eligible to take sick leave equivalent to the regular amount worked over the course of two weeks. (For example, a grad worker with a 50% appointment would be eligible for 40 total hours of sick leave. And a grad worker with a 66% appointment would be eligible for 52 total hours of sick leave.)
In instances of needing to care for another person, grad workers may also be eligible for paid sick leave at ⅔ the regular rate of pay. Please see the details at the website above for more information.
If you plan to be on campus this semester, take advantage of the UIUC free COVID-19 rapid testing resources.
Free rapid COVID-19 testing is available to all members of the campus community. UIUC requires that all employees participating on campus be tested twice per week as part of their safety precautions. If you will be working on campus, please comply with these testing requirements. Be sure to track the time you take for testing and record it as part of your regular work hours.
If you will NOT be working or taking classes on campus this fall but live in the CU area, the university seems to be requiring that all CU-based students be tested twice a week. Obviously, this policy would force folks who have been sheltering in place to leave their homes only for testing, possibly exposing them to the virus. We are looking into this policy and will work to get it altered.
Training and Technology
DO Complete the university’s COVID-19 safety training by August 24.
UIUC has confirmed that this safety training does not include any kind of liability waiver. The training covers basic hygiene and safety precautions for COVID-19.
The training should not take more than 15 minutes. Please be sure to record the time it takes to do this training as part of your work time.
At this time, DO NOT download the Safer Illinois app.
UIUC has announced that all students will be required to download the Safer Illinois app by August 23. However, the university has NOT made the app required for employees.
The university has recently (8/13) responded to some of our questions about the app. We are currently in the process of looking over these responses. Based on what we have seen so far, we still have MANY concerns about our members’ privacy if they use the app. We are also VERY concerned about the encroachment of information-based practices into our members’ personal spaces, especially members most likely to be surveilled, monitored, and tracked.
Because we have been provided with answers to only some of our questions and because of the information summarized in the attached appendix, we recommend NOT downloading the app until you have heard from GEO.
At this time, DO NOT complete the COVID-19 testing scheduling survey.
You may have received an email with the subject line “Your COVID-19 Survey and Testing Schedule” that included a personal survey link. UIUC claims that the information gathered in this survey will help them schedule assigned testing days for the fall and that you should complete the survey by August 19.
We have two major concerns about this survey: 1) While this survey is being described as “required,” it is being used to collect participants for an IRB-approved study. By blending a survey required for employment and participant recruitment for a study, this seems to be an unethical participant recruitment practice. 2) Even if you choose not to take part in the study, the survey collects substantial information about your behaviors outside the scope of your employment (personal socializing and hygiene habits, etc.); we do not know what the university is doing with this data.
Because of these concerns about employee privacy, we recommend not completing this survey until we know more about how this information will be used and handled.
Make full use of the Technology Loan Program for fall semester work.
University IT states that they will be providing cell phones, Mac and Windows laptops, Mac desktops, webcams, mice, keyboards, tablets, and internet hotspots to faculty and staff who are working from home.
Our contract states that “A department or unit will provide access to supplies and equipment necessary to fulfill the assistant’s work obligation without cost to the assistant.” Be sure that you’re doing your TA and GA work on university technology by requesting access to what you need.
If you request technology through your department for the fall semester and it is not provided, contact us at GEO@uigeo.org.
The IBT is currently bargaining with the administration to get a tech subsidy to cover the cost of working from home in the Spring 2020 and Summer 2020 semesters.
Other
Only complete the Illinois Community Pledge if you are interested in doing so.
The University has confirmed that the Illinois Community Pledge “is not a waiver or liability and it would not be used for disciplinary purposes unless the parties agreed otherwise.” This pledge is completely voluntary and has been characterized as a social media campaign. Consequently, we consider this pledge safe for our members to complete.
If you have completed the Pledge and would like to rescind it for any reason, please email Robb Craddock directly at rcrad01s@illinois.edu.
DO NOT sign any telework agreements without hearing from GEO first.
The IBT is bargaining with the university about the policies surrounding working from home.
If you receive a request to complete a telework agreement before hearing from us, please contact us at GEO@uigeo.org.
Appendix: Information about the Safer Illinois App
The Safer Illinois app is designed and managed by the Rokwire project, an UIUC initiative, that is also in the process of introducing a new user-based and integrated service platform for students to use on campus called the “Illinois App.” While we have been assured that the Safer Illinois app and the Illinois app are not the same thing, and that the Illinois app will not be used for COVID-19 data, both of these apps have been designed and are managed by Rokwire. Not only is Rokwire in charge of these apps, but it is also a “living lab” to help UIUC researchers understand smart city operating systems. There is also a strong possibility that Rokwire will be used as a site of user data and metadata commodification. Check out Rokwire's website and watch the sandbox video in full. As of now, GEO is unsure of whether the Safer Illinois app is part of the university’s “living lab” experiment, or if by consenting to the app’s terms and conditions members will be enrolled into Rokwire’s data collection practices.
On July 30, 2020, a report was released by the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project (S.T.O.P.) regarding the Safer Illinois app and Rokwire/Rokmetro. The report concluded that preliminary data on the Safer Illinois app “shows pronounced privacy risks, significant equity concerns, and a lack of structural protections for user data.” See the S.T.O.P. report here.
Lastly, there is a lot of conflicting language around the app’s user privacy policies. The university on multiple occasions has claimed the app does not collect, store, or share user data, GPS location, or personally identifiable information (PII). However, both the app’s and Rokwire’s privacy policies state otherwise. See UIUC Safer Illinois App Policies and Rokwire Privacy Principles.
In Solidarity,
Graduate Employees’ Organization
809 S. 5th St., Geneva Room
Champaign, IL 61820
Email: geo@uigeo.org