The Graduate Employees’ Organization (GEO) demands a living wage and the right to protest
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Saturday, May 14, 2022
Contacts:
Karla Sanabria-Veaz
Communication Liaison
Co-President Elect
officer2@uigeo.org
787-203-5958
Megan Mericle & Savannah Wills
Communications Officers
commcomm@uigeo.org
The Graduate Employees’ Organization (GEO) demands a living wage and the right to protest.
(Champaign, IL) This year's commencement celebration included a protest banner drop from the GEO demanding the right to a living wage during the Union’s contract negotiation cycle.
According to the GEO, the administration only presented a seven page proposal with some cosmetic changes in the names of outdated offices in University dependencies and changes to the grievance procedure. While the GEO relies on militant rank and file members to volunteer their time in the bargaining team, the Office of Labor Employment Relations comes with a full staff whose salaries make up 1 million dollars.
“We have been waiting two months for the University to get back with their full contract proposal regarding wages and other economic benefits for graduate workers. It is unacceptable that during record high inflation of over 7%, the university has shown very little interest in our economic proposal,” highlighted president elect, Karla Sanabria-Véaz.
The banner addressed these concerns and called on the university provost Andreas Cangellaris and the president of the university Timothy Killeen with the phrases, “Hey Andreas, why won’t you pay us? Poverty pay is Killeen grad workers. Fair Contract Now!” The GEO sustains that labor activity by graduate workers must be protected by the University and any form of censorship constitutes the silencing of dissenting voices on Campus.
The Graduate Employees’ Organization, AFT/IFT Local 6300, AFL-CIO, at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, represents approximately 2,700 Teaching and Graduate Assistants on the UIUC Campus. In November 2009 and in February 2018, over 1,000 GEO members and allies participated in a strike to secure a fair contract and more accessible UIUC campus. With an active presence in the community, the GEO continues to work for high-quality and accessible public education in Illinois.
For more information, please contact geo@uigeo.org. More information can also be found on GEO’s website at www.uiucgeo.org.
Twitter: @geo_uiuc
Facebook: @uigeo @geosolcomm
Instagram: @geo_uiuc