Fall Safety Survey, Impact Bargaining, and Teaching Reminders
Table of Contents:
Announcements
Fall 2021 On-Campus Safety Survey
Urgent: Please fill out the survey at https://tinyurl.com/Fall21Safety to tell GEO about your safety concerns for the Fall 2021 semester!
Since March 2020, GEO’s COVID-19 Impact Bargaining Team has been bargaining with the UIUC administration about working condition changes related to COVID-19. Please use this survey to let us know what your concerns are about being on campus this fall.
All graduate workers, regardless of GEO membership or worker categorization (TA, GA, RA, PGA, or hourly) are encouraged to share your concerns with the union. Your responses will inform what protections and safety protocols the COVID-19 Impact Bargaining Team will push for in the coming weeks.
This survey should take about 10 minutes to complete.
All graduate workers have 2 weeks paid COVID-19 sick leave through 9/30!
Graduate workers are eligible for 2 weeks of paid sick leave if they are unable to work due to COVID-19, or are experiencing symptoms after vaccination. Graduate workers are also eligible for 2/3 pay if they are unable to work due to taking care of someone who has COVID-19. For further cases of eligibility for sick leave, please see this agreement between the GEO and university administration.
This agreement was reached between the University administration and the GEO COVID-19 Impact Bargaining Team, which has been working tirelessly since the start of the pandemic! If you’re interested in joining the impact bargaining team, please email geo@uigeo.org.
Have you gotten your appointment letter?
Did you know that you are entitled to receive your appointment letter for assistantships at least 30 days before the start of the appointment? Most TAs and GAs start around August 16th, so most grad workers should’ve received their appointment letter around July 16th. If you are expecting an assistantship for Fall 2021 and have not received your letter yet, please fill out this form! You may be eligible to receive a $70 credit for a late appointment letter.
Remember, you should be paid for any training sessions you attend as part of your job.
Read this before you teach!
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It has come to our attention that some TAs have received an email informing them that they will need to provide a laptop, mobile device, camera, and/or microphone for their Fall 2021 teaching duties. If you received this email and have concerns about BYOD (bringing your own device) policy, we encourage you to do the following:
Check what classroom you will be teaching in and if it has a resident PC (a computer that lives in the classroom) at https://answers.uillinois.edu/illinois/page.php?id=57128
Forward the email to your supervisor or the person who manages teaching assistantships in your department to confirm if you will be responsible for providing your own tech to teach.
If you do receive confirmation that you will be responsible for your own tech, ask your department to provide you with the technology you need.
If neither of these options are available, this may be a grievance (contract violation). Please contact grievance@uigeo.org.
Join the Bargaining Research Team
Are you interested in helping GEO conduct research on our contract in preparation for the upcoming 2022 bargaining cycle?
Join the Bargaining Research Team! We meet biweekly to work on preparing a contract proposal and gathering feedback from GEO members and committees. If you love doing research and digging into the data, this committee is for you! Our next meeting is this Wednesday, July 28th at 2pm CST. Contact barg@uigeo.org if you are interested in joining. We look forward to meeting you!
People First Cancel Debt Committee Pamphlet
The pamphlet headline reads “People First Cancel Debt” in green text on a cream/yellowish background. Underneath, there is a picture of 10 people participating in a People First Cancel Debt event on campus. One person is holding a Mr. Monopoly Man head and a few people are dressed as Wall Street vultures. At the bottom of the page, there is a word cloud with words generated during a visioning session asking people how a People First university would look to them, e.g., “More faculty and smaller class sizes,” “Healthcare,” “Free tuition.” Next to that are three jars filled with jolly ranchers. The jar labeled “Diversity and Inclusion” has one jolly rancher (representing ~$1 million), the “Policing” jar has eight, and the “Debt Payment” jar has a lot of jolly ranchers. On the next page, there is an image of Assata Shakur along with a quote that says “Part of being a revolutionary is creating a vision that is more humane. That is more loving. That is more fun, too. It's really working to create something beautiful.” Next to that is an image from the Debt Reveal that shows people talking by a table and a white board with sticky notes. The text below is on the pamphlet:
The People First, Cancel Debt Committee of the Graduate Employees' Organization (GEO) was founded in the summer of 2020. We believe in investing in people over property and profit. Debt, whether that of students or institutions themselves, often functions as a system of exclusion and oppression. As this committee strives for a “People First” university, we must abolish the system of endebtment that increases tuition, reduces state funding and places wealthy bankers and donors to decide over our lives and education. The University has the money and over 870 million dollars in reserves to invest in us. Through political education, and organized coalitions we will continue to work towards these ends.
We believe that a People First University IS:
Democratic and Community Based: All students, workers, unions, and community members must participate in the decision making of our public University, rather than the 10 politicians and wealthy donors of the Board of Trustees.
Free tuition and subsidized resources: Education is a right, not a commodity and by eliminating costs and subsidizing food, housing, child care and other services we regain our humanity instead of perpetuating inequities and exploitation.
Liberatory and Critical Education: Provides students and community with a critical view of society and its inequities to use education for social transformation and the common good.
Radically diverse and inclusive: To create a People First society, we must dismantle (not reform) all systems of oppression related to race, class, gender, ability and more. We are workers and internationalists! Our committee is multilingual with active Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) members.
Divested from Debt and Imperialistic Funding: We want more state funding for our Universities by taxing the rich, rather than borrowing money from corporations, donors and banks. We must abolish funding related to military forces that oppress colonies and BIPOC individuals around the World.
TO Build a "People First" University We WILL:
engage in affectionate responsibility toward a collective vision that is anti-racist, anti-capitalist, anti-patriarchal, and anti-abilist.
increase our political education around debt and university finances to convey our vision as part of the #ThePowerofUs campaign.
create a People First Coalition and Assembly so that any worker, community member and student can propose a collective plan for our University.
recruit amazing people like you to build a movement that starts creating the society we want to see in the World.
In the past year, WE:
participated in the national debt reveal from #TheOtherDebtCrisis that included a skit featuring Wall Street Vultures and Mr. Monopoly, a budget guessing game with candy, and a sticky note visioning session. UIUC students pay 1,700 USD a year in debt service that could be used for subsidized goods.
researched budget documents, developed financial literacy, and read and summarized texts that contributed to our political analysis.
hosted a teach-in with our political analysis around debt and shared it with Unions on Campus.
hosted a forum on the 2017 University of Puerto Rico student debt strike that inspired our movement.
To create a People First University, we need your passion and commitment! Join us today by filling out this form: https://tinyurl.com/CancelDebtForm or reach us via email at officer2@uigeo.org.
Events
COVID-19 Impact Bargaining Session
Thursday, Aug. 5, 12:00pm-1:00pm CT
Pack the screen for our 14th COVID-19 Impact Bargaining session with UIUC administration!
We'll be continuing to bargain for our members' rights, including transparency around COVID-19 discipline procedures, vaccination requirements, and funding concerns around the use of HEERF III funds! We will again be asking the administration for their Fall 2021 reopening plans and strategies.
Register to attend at https://tinyurl.com/COVIDIBSess14!
We also ask that you please consider filling out our Fall 2021 On-Campus Safety Concerns Survey at https://tinyurl.com/Fall21Safety.
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In Solidarity,
Graduate Employees’ Organization
809 S. 5th St., Geneva Room
Champaign, IL 61820
Email: geo@uigeo.org