Summary of 3/1 Impact Bargaining, Next IB session TODAY (Wednesday) at 2:30 PM
COVID-19 Impact Bargaining
Subject: Summary of 3/1 Impact Bargaining, Next IB session TODAY (Wednesday) at 2:30 PM
***March 2, 2022***
Table of Contents:
Announcements:
Events:
Announcements
Summary of COVID-19 Impact Bargaining Session on 3/1/22
GEO negotiated with UIUC administration for almost 3 hours yesterday. We shared proposals related to worker choice and exposure notifications. For worker choice, we proposed that graduate workers with conditions listed by the CDC as COVID-19 risk factors be given the opportunity to work remotely through Office for Access and Equity (OAE) and that accommodation requests should not take more than one week to process. We also asked that shorter-term requests for changes to modality not be unreasonably denied or ignored and that supervisors not require medical records from graduate workers. For COVID-19 exposure notifications, we proposed that graduate instructors receive exposure notifications from McKinley Health Center when a student receives a positive COVID-19 test on campus or chooses to participate in the Illinois Department of Public Health’s COVID-19 contract tracing program and that graduate workers be granted permission to notify their classes of exposures (without revealing personally identifiable information).
Administration presented the following counter proposals to GEO on the basis that the acceptance of these proposals would end COVID-19 Impact Bargaining for the Spring 2022 semester, and that the Health & Safety Level 3 grievance that the GEO has filed against the university be dropped.
Worker Choice:
Graduate workers with medical diagnoses may request accommodations to work remotely through OAE.
CDC guidance will be taken into account when reviewing the request.
Individuals who need to work remotely in the short term for COVID-related reasons can request accommodations through their supervisors (a week or less), department executive officers (more than a week), and/or the dean (the remainder of the semester).
Decisions about shorter-term requests for changes to modality must be timely and not arbitrary.
Not included in admin’s proposal:
The amount of time taken to process requests via OAE or supervisor.
Whether or not supervisors can require medical documentation.
Exposure Notifications:
If a student tests positive and has opted into the IDPH contact tracing program, McKinley Health will be responsible for notifying the student’s instructors, who will then have the opportunity to notify other students of potential exposure without revealing identifying information about the student who tested positive.
Not included in admin’s proposal:
Exposure notifications via the on-campus testing program.
Masks:
A joint committee with 5 people on the university’s side and 5 people on GEO’s side. This would be an opportunity for the GEO to express the concerns with what types of masks that the university is offering, as well as an opportunity to discuss how to reach certain areas where the GEO believes that there are insufficient masks being provided.
Not included in admin’s proposal:
Number of masks to be provided to graduate workers.
What’s next?
Based on the information received in this meeting, our Impact Bargaining team is submitting a counter proposal to Administration. We expect the administration to respond to our proposal at tomorrow’s Virtual Impact Bargaining Session.
EVENTS
Virtual Impact Bargaining Session - Wednesday, March 2, 2:30-4:30 PM
Today, Wednesday, March 2nd from 2:30-4:30 PM, GEO will negotiate with UIUC administration over COVID-19 health and safety conditions! Pack the screen, we are so close!
RSVP here to receive a link to attend the session: https://tinyurl.com/COVIDIBSess21
[Alt text: Teal poster with dark blue, yellow, and purple bars stemming from the top left, bottom left, and middle right of the page. Big white text on the middle left says “COVID-19 IMPACT BARGAINING SESSION - 3/2/22”. The GEO logo in white is on the top right. Bottom right white text says “PACK THE SCREEN! Attend virtually and support our union’s Impact Bargaining Team! Wednesday, March 1, 2022, 2:30-4:30 PM CDT. Register here:
https://tinyurl.com/COVIDIBSess21. IBT members will be negotiating for a more comprehensive COVID-19 notification system, unlimited PPE (K/N95 masks), and extension of the UIUC mask mandate.”]
Solidarity Committee Open House and Virtual Happy Hour - Wednesday, March 2nd 2022 at 12:00 PM and 6:00 PM (Happy Hour at 8:00 PM) has been POSTPONED
This event has been postponed for April 13th. More details coming soon!
In Solidarity,
Graduate Employees’ Organization
809 S. 5th St., Geneva Room
Champaign, IL 61820
Email: geo@uigeo.org