Summary of Bargaining Session 3
Table of Contents:
Announcements:
Announcements
Summary of 4/28 Bargaining Session
GEO, with lead negotiators Lesley Owens and ben wallis, began the session by offering a new ground rules proposal that maintained our commitment to an open bargaining process. In particular, our proposal pushed for the ability to hold hybrid sessions if necessary and for any in-person bargaining sessions to be held in a central campus location that all our members could easily access. The university administration’s bargaining team refused to accept our proposal and settle on ground rules for bargaining, continually neglecting disabled and immunocompromised grad workers. Refusing to get bogged down, GEO BT decided to move on to discussing the wider contract during the rest of the session.
The majority of yesterday’s session was spent answering questions posed by the university’s lead negotiator, Robb Craddock, about the GEO’s full comprehensive contract proposal that we had prepared for the first bargaining session. Robb insists that he needs to understand our full proposal before the administration can offer one in return. This is despite the fact that GEO’s bargaining team presented a thorough rationale for our proposal during our first bargaining session. Due to the volume of questions from administration, we were only able to get through 5 pages of GEO’s contract before the allotted time was over. GEO’s bargaining team is staffed entirely by volunteers, yet we are still more prepared than the administration, whose bargaining team is paid over a million dollars per year. Robb Craddock additionally refused to provide any questions in written format to expedite the questioning, despite the GEO’s openness to providing answers to written requests at following sessions.
[image description: An image with a blue background with yellow text and a table in the center. The text reads “Why would UIUC rather waste taxpayer money than pay grad workers a living wage? FULL CONTRACT PROPOSAL NOW!” The table compares the UIUC administration to GEO’s Bargaining Team. The administration’s team size is 10 full-time public employees, while GEO’s team is made up of 15 volunteer union members. The administration’s combined annual salary for bargaining work is more than $1,050,000, while GEO’s team is paid $0 for their bargaining work. UIUC’s administration has brought no complete, full contract proposals to the bargaining table, while the GEO team has brought a complete, 39-page, full-contract proposal to the bargaining table.]
We answered the administration’s questions, and affirmed our commitment to making sure the administration understands our proposal fully. We also continued to push the administration to present their full contract proposal. Unfortunately, the administration informed us they still did not have one prepared, and did not plan to have one at the next session. This is unacceptable, and we made that clear as the session ended.
The date and time of our next session is not yet finalized, though it will be held via Zoom. Be on the lookout for an announcement on GEO social media and email for how to register and attend the next bargaining session.
Join a GEO committee!
We are a member-run union; we depend on the commitment of our members to stay as strong as possible. You can find details about what each committee does and how to contact them on our website. No special knowledge is required. You can also follow the calendar of events on our website for the date and time of upcoming meetings: http://uiucgeo.org/calendar. Meetings are open to membership, and coming to a meeting does not commit you to joining a committee.
https://www.uiucgeo.org/committees-and-working-groups
Upcoming meetings:
Solidarity Committee (solcomm@uigeo.org) - Thursday, May 12th 5:00pm-6:30pm. Hybrid. Google Meet https://meet.google.com/cjv-rvbu-aym and GEO Office (809 S 5th St Geneva Room. McKinely)
Bargaining Team (barg@uigeo.org) - Friday, April 29th 2:00pm-4:00pm. Contact email for link.
Grievance Committee (grievance@uigeo.org) - Email for information. Usually Tuesdays 1:00pm-2:00pm. Virtual. https://meet.google.com/see-bcwq-gbn
Stewards’ Council (sc@uigeo.org) - Tuesday, May 3rd 6:30pm-7:30 pm. Virtual. Contact email for link.
People First Cancel Debt Committee (officer2@uigeo.org)- , Tuesday, May 10th 5:00pm-6:30pm Hybrid (online via Jitsi) and GEO Office (809 S 5th St Geneva Room. McKinley Foundation.
Coordinating Committee (cc@uigeo.org) - To be determined with officer transitions. Hybrid: Google Meet and GEO Office. Contact email for more.
Communications Committee (commcomm@uigeo.org) - Wednesday, May 18th 5:00-6:00 pm. Every other Wednesday on google meet. Contact email for more.
Disability Caucus (commcomm@uigeo.org) - Tuesday, May 3rd 3:00-4:00 pm. Every Tuesday on google meet. Contact geodisabilityuiuc@gmail.com or officer3@uigeo.org for more.
In Solidarity,
Graduate Employees’ Organization
809 S. 5th St., Geneva Room
Champaign, IL 61820
Email: geo@uigeo.org