Wage Bargaining Session #9 Summary, BS #10 Announcement
Table of Contents:
Announcements
Wage Bargaining Session #9 Summary
The bargaining team, with the help of the caucus room, went back and forth with the administration on proposals, bringing the admin’s proposal up and moving us closer to final agreement.
The Administration stated on record that RA and PGA salaries are set to match the minimum negotiated by our union. This makes it ever more important to unionize RAs and PGAs!
The university negotiators suggested that “budgeteers” were responsible for talking the administration into offering lower wages, suggesting that LAS would be unable to handle the burden. This emphasizes the fight for more equitable budget models, and for our People First campaign.
| Contract Year | The Admin’s Proposal as of session 8 (Minimum for a 9 month 50% Appointment) |
The Admin’s Proposal as of session 9 (Minimum for a 9 month 50% Appointment) |
Difference in Admin’s Proposal Since Last Session | Our Proposal as of session 7 (Minimum for a 9 month 50% Appointment) |
Our Proposal as of session 9 (Minimum for a 9 month 50% Appointment) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year 4 | $18,321 | $18,450 | 0.76% | $20,000 | $19,200 or Campus Wage Program |
| Year 5 | $18,780 or Campus Wage Program | $19,150 or Campus Wage Program | 1.97% | $21,000 | $19,750 or Campus Wage Program |
Formation of a GEO Black Caucus
Are you a Black graduate worker who has been looking for a place to organize about issues and resources that affect Black graduate workers on campus? Join the GEO Black Caucus! Bring your ideas, your visions, and your friends! Contact officer3@uigeo.org for more details!
Rokwire App Update
The GEO has confirmed that graduate employees WILL NOT be required to download the Safer Illinois App to get into buildings on campus. The alternative to it is the ICard Boarding Pass, which is found at this website and requires no downloads. Note that both the app and the Boarding Pass will not be live until Friday, August 21st.
Additionally, the app is now open-source, enabling the public to investigate the app for any safety or privacy concerns. If you are interested in doing so, the app’s code can be found here. The GEO is very interested to hear your input if you have any!
Events
Wage Bargaining Session 10
Tomorrow, on Friday, August 21st, we will be holding our 10th Wage Bargaining Session from 4-6 PM Central Time! As you read above, Session #9 produced a lot of movement from the administration and we believe that we will continue seeing marked progress in this upcoming session, the last one before the school year starts. Make sure to, as always, #PackTheScreen and let UIUC admin know how strong we are together! The Facebook event can be found here and you can RSVP to the event here.
GEO Socially Distanced Movie Night!
Welcome to another academic year at UIUC! To open the year, GEO will be holding a socially distanced outdoor film showing at Analog Wine Library on Saturday, August 29th at 8:00 PM. The film(s) we will be watching has not been selected yet, but it is sure to involve issues of labor and solidarity, so don’t miss it! There will also be games, bike tune-ups, and hand sanitizer provided for all the guests; just remember to bring a mask and a blanket or chair. We hope to see you there! You can see the Facebook event for more information here.
Other
Community Solidarity: Help Fight Against Evictions & Utility Shutoffs
On August 22nd, the eviction moratorium in the state of Illinois is set to expire. Cook County's Sheriff recently spoke out for an extended eviction moratorium, but the Champaign County Sheriff, Dustin Heuerman, has been silent since March, when he issued a statement in March saying he would not enforce evictions through the end of April. It is incumbent upon his office to issue another such statement. Contact their office over Facebook or by calling 217-384-1205 to suspend court-ordered evictions.
On July 12th, Ameren Illinois stated that they would shut off utilities starting on August 11th. The GEO Solidarity committee joined the No Ameren Shutoffs campaign & won an extension to the utility shutoffs moratorium. However, that moratorium expires in September and now Illinois American Water wants to shut people's water off in September too! We've won before & we can do it again. Call the Illinois Commerce Commission at 1-800-524-0795 to leave an informal complaint demanding no utility shutoffs. Read more about the No Ameren Shutoffs campaign here.
In Solidarity,
Graduate Employees’ Organization
809 S. 5th St., Geneva Room
Champaign, IL 61820
Email: geo@uigeo.org