GEO Members Rally to Demand a Fair Contract

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Thursday, August 25, 2022

Contacts:
Essam Elkorghi 
officer3@uigeo.org 

Savannah Wills, Megan Mericle
Communications Officers
commcomm@uigeo.org

GEO Members Rally to Demand a Fair Contract

Champaign-Urbana, IL -  Over 80 members of the Graduate Employees’ Organization (GEO) rallied at the Illini Union this morning to demand that the University administration present a fair contract ahead of the first in-person bargaining session. After almost 6 months of negotiations, the administration has failed to present a complete counter-offer. GEO members have consistently raised concerns about inflation and the financial precarity they currently face as graduate workers. By prolonging bargaining with exhaustive questions about the GEO’s proposal, the administration has shown their indifference towards the graduate workers they rely on. 

Chelsea Birchmier, a GEO officer-at-large and graduate worker in Psychology, spoke about the difference a fair contract would make to workers across campus struggling with rent, food, and medical bills in the midst of a global pandemic. She encouraged the crowd to “use our power to bring admin to the table prepared to bargain.”  

GEO bargained for two hours with administration, who presented a full proposal that fails to address the issues of childcare, rising inflation, and year-round healthcare that GEO has raised. Administration proposed a 5-year contract, with a 3.6% raise to the minimum in year one, followed by a 3.5% raise in the following 4 years. Given that inflation is currently over 9% according to the Consumer Price Index, their proposal constitutes a wage cut. GEO will continue to bargain and demand a fair contract that addresses all members’ needs.

Essam Elkorghli, a GEO Officer at Large and member of the Bargaining team, outlined his frustrations with the pace of bargaining and the need for a fair contract now:

“We have provided the UIUC Administration a full contract more than five months ago and they claim that they will provide us with their first full counter proposal. The graduate workers are fed up with the admin’s recalcitrant attitude about the dire need to address issues of graduate workers’ wages especially with the ongoing inflation. We want a living wage that is commensurate with inflation and other job related benefits and protections. The educational functions of the university are largely conducted by poorly paid graduate workers. It is time for us to unite against the university’s administration and show that the university works because we do.”

Sam Froiland, an Officer at Large and Bargaining Team Member, spoke about the importance of GEO’s proposal:

“We are coming to demand higher wages, better healthcare, and the discontinuation of the fees that they charge us each semester that amount to wage theft. We are calling on the administration to offer us a proposal to meet the needs caused by an extraordinary period of inflation and that pays the workers doing most of the teaching and a substantial amount of administrative work on campus what we deserve.”

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 a 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

###