Summary of 1st Bargaining Session, Barg Session #2 Info
Table of Contents:
Announcements:
Events:
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Summary of First Bargaining Session with the UIUC Administration
Brief Summary: The Bargaining Team’s (BT) lead negotiators started the session by proposing ground rules for contract negotiation. The administration proposed their own ground rules. The two sides did not come to an agreement on all of these ground rules, but they were tabled in favor of continuing on to our full-contract proposal.
GEO’s lead negotiators shared the full, written contract proposal with the administration and verbally shared the proposed contract language, reading the language out loud and presenting the highlights of the proposed changes and the rationale for these changes. Our proposals included increased wages, year-round healthcare coverage, the elimination of fees, improvements in grad workers’ health and safety protections, overwork protections, and strengthened anti-discrimination and anti-harrassment language.
UIUC’s administration came to the session unprepared and did not offer their own full contract proposal, even though we asked for that proposal to be provided at the first bargaining session. The University administration had months to prepare a proposal and still came unprepared. We reiterated our demand for the administration’s proposal and scheduled a second bargaining session on Friday, April 1 from 2:00 to 4:00 pm via Zoom. Register to attend at https://tinyurl.com/GEOBargSess2.
The full contract proposal and proposal presentation will be made available to all members for review in hard copy form for review in the GEO office. If you have questions about today’s session or the proposal, contact barg@uigeo.org.
Detailed Summary
Lead Negotiators: Ben (History) & Sam (History)
Ground Rules: The Bargaining Team (BT) began the session by proposing our ground rules for the bargaining process, which set expectations about communication, accessibility and etiquette between the two parties. UIUC’s administration proposed their own ground rules. GEO members caucused to discuss these. Ultimately, BT asked for closed captioning to be turned on in the current session so that the session was accessible to members and agreed to table other parts of the conversation until a future session.
GEO’s Proposed Ground Rules: GEO’s proposed ground rules are meant to make sure that the sessions are accessible to membership, including a request for centralized, on-campus locations for in-person bargaining sessions. We also proposed online or hybrid sessions to protect immunocompromised grad workers. Finally, we proposed that abusive language would not be tolerated.
UIUC’s Ground Rules: The administration’s ground rules included proposals that would limit the ability of GEO to communicate with our members, including forbidding live tweeting and closed captioning. Their proposals also placed unnecessary limitations on how our bargaining team could function.
GEO’s Full Contract Proposal: GEO’s BT came with a full contract proposal completed, and we delivered this proposal to the administration. While changes were made to almost every article in the contract, here are some highlights:
Article III. Non-Descrimination Statement: The proposal strengthens and clarifies the language around non-descrimination. It also adds political speech as a protected category.
Article IV. Appointment Terms: In addition to other changes, the proposal increases the penalty if the employer delivers an appointment letter to a grad worker late; requires that the university accurately inform bargaining unit members about GEO and the benefits outlined in our contract; ensures that all training and orientations are paid; diversifies instructors’ options for fulfilling the state’s English proficiency requirement; and requires an improved, human-facilitated sexual harrassment training.
Article V. Orientation & Training: The proposed language guarantees GEO's presence at orientations, improves communication of member rights, & ensures that members are paid for any pre-contract training. The new language also diversifies how grad instructors can fulfill the state's English proficiency requirement because the current process is extremely limited and creates unnecessary stress and/or financial burdens on many members
Article VII. Hours of Work: GEO's proposal clarifies the language around & expected work hours for each appointment percentage. These changes should protect grad workers from overwork.
Article VIII. Paid Time for GEO Business: This new article would create part-time appointments for grad workers to administer our contract & ensure that bargaining unit members know about the union.
Article XI. Employee Rights: Proposed changes answer members' concerns following COVID-19, ensuring that we're given the materials & protective equipment needed to work safely & effectively at no cost to workers. The proposed language also guarantees safe workplaces, inclusive workplaces for nonbinary & transgender workers, & protections for political speech & union work.
Article XV. Wages: The lead negotiators presented a substantial increase to our minimum pay that would get grad workers closer to a living wage in Champaign County. Members consistently report that they struggle to make rent, pay their bills, feed themselves, & pay for medical care on our current wages.
Article XVI. Fee Waivers: The BT proposes that all fees for grad workers be waived. Fees constitute wage theft & make it difficult for grad workers to pay their bills at the start of each semester.
Article XVII. Tuition Waivers: This proposed article has remained essentially the same--full, guaranteed tuition waivers are vital to our membership's ability to work, learn, & live in the UIUC community.
Article XVIII. Health Care: The Bargaining Team is proposing comprehensive, year-round health care coverage at no cost to grad workers. Healthcare is a human right & is absolutely essential during COVID-19. This proposal also includes access for more robust mental healthcare and comprehensive gender-affirming healthcare.
Article XIX. Child Care: The BT's proposed changes would provide a much-needed child care subsidy for grad workers with children. This language would ensure that grad workers with children can continue to be a part of our community.
Article XXI. Leaves & Holidays: The proposed language would give grad workers vacation days and increase our sick leave. Additional leave would give international grad workers much-needed flexibility to allow for international travel, and ensure that chronically ill and disabled members can remain at the university. Additionally, the proposal puts the responsibility for duty coverage on the employer. The proposed language also expands bereavement leave for grad workers & includes gender-neutral language for many of the listed relationships. This proposal also specifies that parental leave should be paid, that jury leave should be paid, & that international workers should be protected in the case of unforeseen complications in the immigration process.
Article XXII. Grievance Procedure: This language is largely unchanged, with the exception of increasing the grievance reporting timeline to ensure that members have adequate time to submit grievances.
Article XXIII. Health and Safety: These proposed changes include many improvements to ensure the physical & psychological safety of grad workers, particularly in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. This proposal would also give grad workers the right to request non-police response in non-violent crisis situations. Additionally, it includes the development of a restorative justice process as an alternative to police intervention This proposal is in line with the university’s professed commitments to anti-racism.
Article XXVII. No Strike/No Lockout: BT's proposed language forbids the university from locking out grad workers during a labor dispute. Lock outs can be disastrous for both workers and the students we serve.
Article XXVIII. Duration: Our current contract covers 5 years, but BT's proposed contract covers 1 year. This is so that our contract can be renegotiated as our working and economic conditions change.
The full contract proposal and proposal presentation will be made available to all members for review in hard copy form for review in the GEO office. If you have questions about today’s session or the proposal, contact barg@uigeo.org.
UIUC’s Full-Contract Proposal: UIUC’s administration came to the session unprepared and did not offer their own full contract proposal, even though GEO asked for that proposal to be provided at the first bargaining session. We reiterated our demand for the administration’s proposal, and they responded that they would share all of their intended contract changes at our next bargaining session.
Scheduling Session #2: To conclude, the teams agreed to a second bargaining session on Friday, April 1 from 2:00 to 4:00 pm via Zoom. GEO members can register to attend at https://tinyurl.com/GEOBargSess2.
EVENTS
Full Contract Bargaining, Friday, April 1, 2-4 PM CT
Friday, April 1, 2:00-4:00 pm CT
Via Zoom. Register to attend at https://tinyurl.com/GEOBargSess2.
The administration claims that they will present their full-contract proposal at this session. We will also continue discussing ground rules, including those ground rules that will ensure that our sessions are accessible to all GEO members.
Purple poster with pink bullhorn on the top right. Big text in alternating white, white with black borders, and pink says: “FULL CONTRACT BARGAINING SESSION #2 4/1/22”. Underneath this says “2:00 PM-4:00 PM” in pink. Under this says “On Friday, April 1 from 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM, GEO’s Bargaining Team will be negotiating with university administration on topics of access and justice, wages and waivers, and health and safety in our contract.” To the right of this is the GEO logo in white. At the bottom is orange text that says “RSVP here: https://tinyurl.com/GEOBargSess2”.
In Solidarity,
Graduate Employees’ Organization
809 S. 5th St., Geneva Room
Champaign, IL 61820
Email: geo@uigeo.org