Bargaining Session #9 Summary: GEO Argues No One Should Pay to Work
Bargaining Session #9 Summary
The Graduate Employees’ Organization (GEO) met with UIUC administration for a three-hour bargaining session this Thursday (August 11). Lead negotiators Lesley Owens (English) and Sam Froiland (History) covered a substantial part of the contract and expeditiously answered all of the administration’s questions. The session focused on questions surrounding GEO’s proposals for child care, more comprehensive health care for graduate workers and their dependents and partners, and ground rules (i.e., how the GEO and the administration are to conduct these sessions, especially as school starts and we transition to in-person bargaining sessions). The session also covered the GEO’s proposed changes to contract articles such as Fee Waivers, Tuition Waivers, Leaves & Holidays, Grievance Procedure, and Health & Safety.
During the session, Lesley and Sam explained the importance of childcare for graduate workers who are parents and caregivers. Lesley stressed that the university should be transparent in outlining childcare options for graduate workers, as it would be mutually beneficial, bringing in prospective graduate workers who are parents, and ensuring that existing grad student parents have the resources they need for their families and work.
A key part of the discussion during the session was centered on fee waivers. As GEO members know, graduate students pay fees for the use of libraries, public transportation, and other services. This always reduces the amount of disposable income graduate students have. The GEO has proposed language intended to ensure that graduate workers are not charged such fees. It is the GEO’s position that graduate workers should not pay to work, but rather get paid for our work.
GEO also covered our proposal for adjusted time for sick leaves, paid leave, bereavement leave and immigration leave. The GEO has proposed that graduate workers who have recently lost a relative (family and extended family), partner or friend should get several days of leave. The administration argued that the definition of friend is vague and overly encompassing. During the session, Robb Craddock (admin’s lead negotiator), said “your bereavement policy, it is ripe for abuse, and we can’t agree to things that are ripe for abuse, and that’s not in the best interest of the University.” The lead negotiators pointed out that, especially with the ongoing pandemic, the tremendous losses many graduate workers have experienced in the last two years were not confined to just family; they included friends. The GEO takes this issue seriously and the proposed language pushes for graduate workers to have time off to grieve for the loss of a loved one, no matter how the relationship is defined.
Last but not least, the lead negotiators brought up issues related to the health and safety of graduate workers. They discussed graduate workers’ right to a non-police response to certain emergencies, especially as police interventions often result in escalation as opposed to de-escalation. The university and the country have an ongoing tragic history of police brutality that impacts communities of color, especially Black communities.
The lead negotiators, Lesley and Sam, did a tremendous job in answering the administration’s questions. This largely had to do with the Bargaining Team and Bargaining Support Team’s collective effort to meet and draft possible responses to the admin’s potential questions.
The session ended with the admin exhausting their questions concerning GEO’s contract proposal. Lest we forget, the proposal was handed to the admin, in its fullest form, five months ago. The GEO has not received a full counter proposal from the administration. According to Robb, the administration intends to present their full contract counter proposal in the next bargaining session on August 25. Now is the time for us to come together and organize our efforts to mobilize and conscientize fellow graduate workers to show the administration that the university works because we do. Be there at the next bargaining session at 11am in the Illini Union!
Next Steps
How can you contribute to bargaining?
Attend the next bargaining session on Thursday, August 25th from 11am to 1pm.
Send in testimonials! If you have personally experienced issues related to the points brought up in bargaining, your experience is a powerful reminder to the 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 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!
Bargaining Session #10
There will be a rally on the 25th at 10am, an hour before the session(11:00-1:00pm). This means that attending the session in person is encouraged, as we hope to demonstrate our power to the admin. Come out and join the rally as we show our numbers and our commitment to bargaining! We also understand that not everyone will be able to attend in-person (due to parenting duties, immunocompromisation, or working remotely). You can also contribute your power by helping us phone bank, inviting friends to the session and rally, and joining the Bargaining Team!
New Episode of After Bargaining Podcast
[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 underneath.]
The After Bargaining Podcast is launching a special edition of the episode to highlight the fact that our contract has expired on the 15th of this month. Today!
The host, Essam, is joined with the co-presidents of GEO (Karla and Nachiketa). Unlike other episodes where the lead negotiators are invited to speak about the bargaining session and how it went, this episode will be slightly different. First, Essam gives a brief overview of the session that was led by our colleagues, Sam and Lesley. And then the episode transitions to a conversation with the GEO presidents, Nachiketa and Karla. The episode covers questions about our union, the meaning of our contract’s expiration and the main demands that we are fighting for. You will also learn a bit about who the co-presidents of GEO are.
Listen Here: https://anchor.fm/after-bargaining/episodes/Our-Contract-Has-Expired--After-Bargaining-Session-9-with-Karla--Nachiketa--Essam-e1mhtbq
In Solidarity,
Graduate Employees’ Organization
809 S. 5th St., Geneva Room
Champaign, IL 61820
Email: geo@uigeo.org