Summary of Bargaining Session 7: GEO Calls for Living Wage
Table of Contents:
Table of Contents:
Summary of 7/15 Bargaining Session!
At Friday’s bargaining session, GEO’s Bargaining Team (BT) lead negotiators Lesley Owens and ben wallis talked about our proposed changes to Wages, Expenses, and Distribution of Information.
GEO’s BT proposed a fair wage for graduate workers. All graduate workers deserve a living wage, now more than ever, with inflation over 9% according to the Consumer Price Index. As the lead negotiators emphasized, GEO members continuously report difficulty making ends meet throughout the year, and this summer, have had to choose between paying for healthcare, making rent, and buying food.
When GEO lead negotiators cited the MIT Living Wage Calculator’s estimate of a $35,672 living wage for Champaign County, UIUC admin’s lead negotiator Robb Craddock suggested that a living wage for graduate workers would be half of the MIT’s estimate, approximately $17,000, for graduate workers on a 50% appointment. Robb refused to answer whether his family could survive at these wages because he is “not a graduate student.”
GEO opposes the administration’s interpretation of a living wage. Being on a 50% appointment does not mean we pay 50% of our rent and utilities, food, or childcare! Grad workers are often discouraged or prohibited from seeking work outside of assistantships, and international students who are not allowed to work over 20 hours per week during the academic year still need to be able to survive on this wage. Most grad workers are not given year-round appointments and do not get paid for 3 or more months of the year, making a living wage even more essential.
Admin also asked if we considered tuition waivers a form of compensation, suggesting that graduate workers are paid a living wage if tuition waivers are included as part of our income. While tuition waivers are considered a form of compensation, we cannot eat tuition waivers to survive!
[Image description: GEO’s Article XVI. Tuition Waiver 2017-22 contract language with the word “MMM” above the article and “LUNCH” below the article in block letters]
GEO’s BT also proposed changes to increase transparency and efficiency in how admin provides information to GEO, especially on member dues. We hope these changes will help prevent a repeat of the current situation we are facing, in which admin owes GEO over $20,000 in dues deduction mistakes, robbing members of funds that can be used to improve our working conditions. We also proposed language that would allow members to be reimbursed more quickly after paying for work-related travel and for materials used to complete our jobs.
Going forward, although we appreciate admin’s willingness to meet regularly, we are disappointed that admin has again come to a session without a full contract proposal. When asked about the proposal, given that we are just a month away from contract expiration on August 15th, Robb replied, “Well, at the current pace it may be difficult…If there were less of them [GEO’s proposals] maybe we would be through this process [of admin questioning GEO’s proposal line by line before presenting a proposal of their own].”
According to Robb, his office of several full time public employees averaging total salaries of over 1 million dollars find it too “difficult” to come with a full proposal before our contract expires. Robb’s comment shows a blatant lack of respect for improving our member’s lives and suggests that admin believes it is acceptable for graduate workers to go without a wage increase this August, effectively taking a 9% pay cut due to inflation.
“I had always heard about all the things that go on in bargaining sessions — the things the admin says about what we deserve as workers, and so on — but being there in the moment really hits different. When he suggested that if we’d had fewer proposals we might be done by now, I was hands-over-my-mouth shocked.” — Dakota, GEO member, Math Department
If we come together, we can insist that UIUC admin show us the respect we deserve by coming to the bargaining table prepared with a full contract proposal that includes a fair wage. Your presence in the room as a GEO member at bargaining sessions is necessary to win a strong contract that includes wages and waivers, health and safety, and access and justice! Mark your calendars for the next bargaining session, on July 29, 2-5pm, online, where we will continue to discuss wages, and likely tuition and fee waivers as well.
How can you contribute to bargaining?
Attend the next bargaining session July 29, 2-5 pm (https://tinyurl.com/GEOBarg8)
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.
Join us on Wednesday, July 20, 3-5pm (details at https://tinyurl.com/GEOStrategy) to plan our collective strategy for winning a strong contract this year!
Join the Bargaining Team: nominate yourself or someone else here (https://tinyurl.com/jointheBT). Questions about what that entails? Email Chelsea and Sam at officer1@uigeo.org!
When we fight, we win!
Register for Bargaining Session #8!
Our next session is scheduled for Friday, July 29 from 2-5pm CT. As always, we need to pack the screen to 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/GEOBarg8
Join the bargaining room and caucus for as long as you can, and invite at least one colleague!
[Image description: A flyer with a purple-colored background and an image of a blue megaphone with waves of sound in the upper right. blue and white text reads “FULL CONTRACT BARGAINING SESSION #8 7/29/22.” In a paragraph below, smaller white text reads, “On Friday, June 29 from 2:00-5:00 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.” At the bottom, text reads, “RSVP here: [https://tinyurl.com/GEOBarg8]” On the bottom left is a white logo with the letters “GEO” inside.]
New Episode of After Bargaining Podcast
In the fourth episode of After Bargaining, lead negotiators ben and Lesley speak with Essam, a Bargaining Team member, about Bargaining Session 7. They focus on grad worker wages, talking about the need for wage increases that get us closer to a living wage especially as inflation rates increase. You can listen to the podcast here: https://tinyurl.com/AfterBargaining7.
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 access a transcript of the podcast episode at this link.
In Solidarity,
Graduate Employees’ Organization
809 S. 5th St., Geneva Room
Champaign, IL 61820
Email: geo@uigeo.org