Wage Bargaining Session #7 Summary, BS #8 Announcement, X-Campus Solidarity, and More
Table of Contents:
Announcements
Wage Bargaining Session #7 Recap
Main Takeaways
We came to the administration with our new proposal at $20,000 for year four and $21,000 for year five, and striking of the reappointments clause.
International students require 21,000 in income to maintain their visas.
Admin were appreciative of our decreased ask, but maintained that this would be too much for them to accept and indicated they would come to the next bargaining session with a new proposal.
Prior to Bargaining Session 7, feedback from membership indicated a preference to reach a resolution to wage bargaining quickly and direct focus to Covid-19 impact bargaining and organizing for our next contract. So, at the session, we presented a proposal with the Year 4 minimum set at $20,000 for a 50%, 9-month appointment and the Year 5 minimum set at $21,000. These were 11% decreases from the amounts in our previous proposal. We also reaffirmed our commitment to striking out the reappointments clause in the Wages section of the contract, because it has been used to deny deserved raises to many of our members.
The administration’s representative, Robb Craddock, expressed that he was glad to see a proposal that was closer to the admin’s proposals than ours had so far been, but that our numbers were still not acceptable to the admin. Robb also continued to oppose striking the reappointment language.
The bargaining session ended with a sidebar between Robb and our bargaining leads, wherein admin gave an informal supposal. We rejected this supposal and await admin’s next proposal in Bargaining Session 8.
Appointment Notifications and Training
Did you receive your letter of appointment or re-appointment as a TA/GA this fall yet? If not, you might be entitled to a $50 compensation from the university for the delay! All TA’s and GA’s covered by our contact--that is, all TA’s and GA’s between 25% and 67% full-time equivalent work--must receive their offer letters at least 30 days before the appointment begins. Most appointments begin around August 16th, meaning that this deadline recently passed. If you fall in this category and did not receive your letter, please write to university HR immediately at ihr@illinois.edu asking when you should expect it and for an explanation as to why it was late. Please feel free to cc the Grievance Committee at grievancelist@uigeo.org on any correspondence you may have with HR.
Not covered by our contract, but haven’t received your letter yet? You should email HR and cc us anyways! You should always feel empowered to ask about the terms and conditions of your labor--it’s your right as an employee!
Last, we’d like to remind everyone--TA’s, GA’s, RA’s, hourly employees, and more--that you are entitled to compensation for any trainings or orientations you might undergo this summer/fall. Do not let your labor go unpaid! If you’re having issues getting paid for training, please contact us at grievancelist@uigeo.org.
COVID-19 Impact Bargaining Update
At our most recent COVID-19 impact bargaining session last week, we again pressed the administration for some form of technology subsidy. We had previously asked for a one-time sum of money, calculated based on data we received from members about their technology costs so far and those anticipated for the fall term. The administration maintained that they preferred to investigate issues like this on a departmental level, and seemed poised to investigate whether some specific departments that we mentioned had the financial capacity to support their graduate workers’ tech needs. We suggested some possible avenues for where a technology subsidy might receive funding, and are hoping to hear a proposal from the administration on this at our next meeting.
In addition to the tech subsidy, we asked about a variety of health and safety concerns for those graduate workers returning to campus this fall in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. We pressed the administration for union representation on their campus-wide COVID-19 taskforces, but they maintained that they prefer to handle issues related to pandemic planning in impact bargaining sessions.
The administration informed us that a variety of new policies will be announced in the coming weeks related to COVID-19 safety procedures, including guidelines for how to apply for remote-work, guides on procedures for cleaning classrooms, and other safety issues. We were informed that the Office for Access and Equity will be the point of contact for any accommodations needed to work safely during the pandemic, while it seems that most applications for remote work will be handled on a case-by-case basis at the departmental level.
We know that many of our members are extremely concerned about teaching, learning, and working this semester. Your Impact Bargaining Team is working hard to make the administration #PutPeopleFirst--we hold that all coursework and labor for graduate employees should be remote whenever technologically possible.
Our next COVID-19 Impact Bargaining session will be Friday, August 7th at 10AM. If you’d like to attend this or our Bargaining Team’s planning meeting, please contact us at grievancelist@uigeo.org. Only by working together can our union can create a safe, healthy working environment for all employees this fall!
Illinois Policy Institute Sending You Mail?
We have learned that some members of our sister unions at the university have received mail from the Illinois Policy Institute--a right-wing think tank funded by anti-union groups--encouraging them to drop their union membership. The GEO recognizes that joining our union and paying dues is a decision that may not be right for everyone. However, we would like to remind all of our members that we can only keep our decades of hard-won contract benefits--things like our large wage increases, our healthcare benefits, our rights to representation with the student health office, our protections against being fired with due cause, and so much more--if we maintain a majority of membership among TAs and GAs at the university. If we lose this majority, all of these benefits could be lost and tossed aside by the university.
So, please let us know if you are receiving mail from the Illinois Policy Institute. If you have concerns and questions about your dues or your membership, we strongly encourage you to approach us with them. Our elected officers and staff are always looking for ways to improve the experiences of our members. We want to ensure that you’re getting the most out of our contract and all that our radical, rank-and-file, member-led union has to offer!
Events
Wage Bargaining Session #8
Round 8 of Wage Bargaining is coming up, and it's time for us to pack the (virtual) room! Let's tell the admin they need to put people first over profit! Please RSVP here if you would like to receive a link to attend the next GEO virtual bargaining session, which will take place online, Wednesday, August 5, 12–2PM CT.
It’s very important that we all show up and show out for two BIG reasons. 1) The administration needs to see that they’re dealing with a powerful union. 2) We’re a democratically run, rank-and-file union! Your input at the bargaining table is critical so that we can move forward in a way that benefits all our members and ensures all their voices are heard!
X-Campus Week of Action
As a union, the UIUC GEO is proud to participate in the X-Campus #OurRiskOurChoice campaign. We support all higher education workers demanding their universities put people first, as we demanded in our #PeopleFirst week of action. The workers whose health is at stake need to have say in deciding whether campuses can be opened throughout the pandemic. Universities and colleges must cover any medical expenses related to workplace infections and refuse to cooperate with any ICE initiative. Universities and colleges must protect the workers and students without which they could not exist. Administrators cannot ask workers and students to sacrifice their health and safety without giving them a say.
We invite our members to post throughout the week of August 4-15 with the #OurRiskOurChoice, #HigherEdWorksBecauseWeDo, and #MayDay2020 hashtags to join your voice to the many student unions demanding universities protect the health and safety of their workers, and let the workers who are taking the risk make the choice!
Other
Help with Shirts!
GEO’s Communications Committee is planning to order new GEO swag in the next few weeks! We are working on a new shirt design that says “We are GEO” in all languages represented in our union and on campus. Here is a viewable list of the translations we have collected from members, but if you are able to translate “We are GEO” in any additional languages, please fill out this form so we can make our shirt as inclusive and representative of our membership as possible!
In Solidarity,
Graduate Employees’ Organization
809 S. 5th St., Geneva Room
Champaign, IL 61820
Email: geo@uigeo.org