Summary of Bargaining Session #6
Table of Contents:
Announcements:
Summary of Bargaining Session #6
Events:
Summary of Bargaining Session
Yesterday’s bargaining session began with a discussion of ground rules. The administration continued to push for a cap on GEO members allowed in the bargaining room, this time arguing that more involvement of GEO members would make bargaining less "conducive."
GEO lead negotiators, Sam Froiland (History) and Chelsea Birchmier (Psychology) highlighted that GEO is a democratic, member-run organization and brought a counter proposal with no room capacity limitations. Sam and Chelsea also highlighted that GEO is happy to work with the administration on space arrangements.
For the rest of the session, Sam and Chelsea answered the administration’s questions about GEO’s proposal on employee rights, including access to sanitized nursing spaces and reliable internet connection, as well as freedom of speech in workplaces. The administration questioned the necessity of GEO’s proposal for grad worker access to regularly sanitized private spaces for nursing. Sam stated that these nursing spaces are a moral necessity especially due to the vulnerability of nursing people and their children to COVID-19
Robb Craddock, the university administration’s lead negotiator, also asked, “why is the employer obligated to provide changing tables in the workplace?” Chelsea noted that the university offers no childcare resources, and asked what grad employees who are parents or guardians should be expected to do when bringing their children in the workspace. The administration had no answer to this question. It is becoming increasingly clear that, as graduate workers we will continually need to fight for childcare resources.
Likewise, due to the increasing prevalence of hybrid teaching, GEO proposed that the employer should have an obligation to supply computers and Internet access for better education. However, the administration claimed that access should be on case-by-case basis, so that only employees who are required to work remotely have access.
In the last part of the session, GEO reiterated that graduate workers should be entitled to freedom of speech in their workplaces, arguing that expression of political beliefs should not result in retaliation or termination. Robb kept shifting the focus away from workers’ rights and to the limits of academic freedom, but when asked, he could not come up with an example of the issues with academic freedom he was raising. Sam and Chelsea reiterated that we are seeking stronger workplace protections for grad workers to express political beliefs and affiliations.
Unfortunately, the administration still does not have a full contract proposal for us and did not give a date for sharing their proposal. We will continue to pressure them into giving us their proposal in future actions and bargaining sessions.
Member Takes on the Bargaining Session
"The pacing and clarification of wording everything seemed meticulous and tedious at first, but it made sense eventually to the goal we are trying to get to. Still a LOT of work to be done, but that’s the good fight." - Maurice (They/Them)
NEXT STEPS & WAYS TO SUPPORT BARGAINING
Want to know what you can do to work toward winning a fair contract for graduate workers?
Here are some next steps:
Join the Bargaining Support Team! BST provides support to the lead negotiators and bargaining team members. This includes taking notes on sessions and in caucus, helping facilitate caucus, sending out reminders about upcoming sessions, researching issues brought up in bargaining, and more! If you want to get involved, you can join the #bargsupportteam channel on Slack (if you’re not added to the GEO Slack, send an email to geo@uigeo.org to get added). The next BST meeting is today, June 15 from 3-5pm. You can attend in person at the GEO office (809 S 5th St Geneva Room, McKinley Foundation) or online.
Come to the next bargaining session and bring a friend! See information below about our next bargaining session on Friday, July 15 from 1-3pm CT.
Send in testimonials! If you have personally experienced issues related to the points brought up in bargaining, your experience is a powerful reminder to admin of the real impact of these negotiations. You can include your story on the registration form for the next session (which can be anonymous!), or reach out to barg@uigeo.org for more information about sharing your story, written or directly in the online bargaining room.
Get involved in research! Post in #bargsupportteam about sections of the contract you’re planning to read closely, or examples you plan to look into from other universities and grad unions. For example, people on the Bargaining Team (BT) and BST are currently compiling information on overwork policies at other universities.
Have an idea, skill, or expertise but not sure where to get started? Send a message on the #general channel or email geo@uigeo.org to share other ways of getting involved!
Register for Bargaining Session #7!
Our next session is coming up tomorrow, Friday July 15, 1:00-3:00. We need your voice in caucus to contribute to our fight for a fair contract! The administration continues to delay and fail to come to the table with a full proposal. Let’s pack the screen and show our power!
The session will take place online via Zoom, and GEO will caucus in Google Meets. Register to attend through this link: https://tinyurl.com/GEOBarg7.
Your presence there is crucial, so please drop by for as long your schedule allows!
Listen to After Bargaining, Episode #2
In the second episode of After Bargaining, lead negotiators for Bargaining Session #5, Karla Sanabria-Véaz (Linguistics) and Chelsea Birchmier (Psychology) speak with Essam Elkorghli (Education), a Bargaining Team member, about the session.
This podcast is a great way to get caught up if you missed the bargaining session, or want to hear more about the full contract bargaining process in general! You can view a transcript of the podcast at this link: https://bit.ly/3QF667m.
You can listen to the podcast at this link: https://tinyurl.com/bargainingpodcast.
[Image description: Podcast logo with a black background. At the top is an image of headphones in purple and green with a neon light-styled font. Underneath, is the podcast title, “AFTER BARGAINING,” in pink neon-styled font, with a sub-title, “-WITH GEO-” in blue at the bottom.]
Salt of the Earth Watch Party
[Image description: Light green poster with wavy text in black at the top that reads: "GEO Watch Party" Below that on the left in black text reads "Join us in the GEO office for snacks and camaraderie to watch Salt of the Earth Friday June 24th 4-6pm 809 S. 5Th St. Mckinley Foundation Geneva Room Champaign, IL 61820” Next to that on the right there is a movie poster for salt of the earth with black and white images of protesters and red text reads “Salt of the Earth.”]
GEO Political Discussion and Strategy Retreat
The GEO will be hosting a retreat to set goals, share political education and discuss accountability surrounding organizing on Saturday, June 25, from 11am to 5:30pm and Sunday, June 26, from 11am to 5:30pm. All members are invited to attend for as much or as little of this retreat as you can! Drop in and share input as we collaboratively develop a plan for this coming year of organizing!
If you think you can make it, please RSVP here: tinyurl.com/retreat25-26! We will use your dietary preference for lunch orders.
We encourage those who are in the area and able to attend in person to join us in the GEO office (809 S. 5th St. Geneva Room, McKinley Foundation Champaign, IL, 61820). We will post a link on Slack and the GEO calendar on Saturday, June 25 for those who are joining virtually.
[Image description: A gray and yellow flyer with black and yellow polka dots around the side, in yellow at the top reads: “GEO political discussion and strategy retreat,” below that black text says “Saturday June 25th Sunday June 26th 11:00-5:30pm” below that yellow text says “open to all membership! Drop in for as long as you can either day for a discussion of our shared material conditions and our goals as a union *lunch will be provided” below that in black reads “rsvp here: https://tinyurl.com/retreat25-26” with a QR code beside it. At the bottom, yellow text says “GEO office 809 s 5th st. Geneva room, McKinley foundation Check the GEO calendar for a link to join virtually.”]
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 summer schedules:
RA/PGA Working Group (geo@uigeo.org) - Wednesday, June 22, 6:30pm-7:30pm. Google Meet https://meet.google.com/zem-kbvx-eqd
Solidarity Committee (solcomm@uigeo.org) - Email for information about summer schedule. Hybrid. Google Meet https://meet.google.com/cjv-rvbu-aym and GEO Office (809 S 5th St Geneva Room. McKinley).
Bargaining Team (barg@uigeo.org). (TODAY!) Tuesday, June 21 4:30pm-6:30pm. Contact email for link.
Grievance Committee (grievance@uigeo.org) - Wednesday, June 29 4:30pm-5:30pm. Virtual. Contact email for link.
Stewards’ Council (sc@uigeo.org) - Contact email to get involved this summer.
People First Cancel Debt Committee (officer2@uigeo.org) - Email for information about summer schedule. Hybrid (online via Jitsi) and GEO Office (809 S 5th St Geneva Room. McKinley Foundation).
Coordinating Committee (cc@uigeo.org) - Saturday, June 25 11:00am-5:30pm (CC Retreat). Hybrid: Google Meet and GEO Office. RSVP here: tinyurl.com/retreat25-26.
Communications Committee (commcomm@uigeo.org) - Email for information about summer schedule. Virtual. Contact email for link.
Disability Caucus (GEOdisabilityUIUC@gmail.com) - Tuesday, June 28 12:00pm-1:00pm. Every other Tuesday, 12-1pm on google meet. https://meet.google.com/xyf-jcft-uid Contact GEOdisabilityUIUC@gmail.com for more information.
In Solidarity,
Graduate Employees’ Organization
809 S. 5th St., Geneva Room
Champaign, IL 61820
Email: geo@uigeo.org