GEO Members’ Information – Do Not Distribute
The seventh bargaining session between the GEO and the university administration covered several issues of the contract: Revised Pay Dates, Distribution of Information, Employee Rights, and Grievances.
I. Revised Pay Dates: Starting in the Fall, the official pay date for all UIUC employees will move from the 21st to the 15th. The GEO has no objection to this move, but the bargaining committee (GEO-BC) was concerned about the implementation. One potential problem was that the administration was slow in announcing the change. Many grads made their summer plans on the old schedule and might not be able to come to work six days earlier. Another problem would be grads who have an overlapping summer/fall appointment. The union wants the university to promise that they will not penalize grad employees who cannot make the new work date.
Result: The university has not provided a counter-proposal to the GEO on this issue. However, current university policy does make accommodations for students in these circumstances. In addition, the administration’s representatives indicated a willingness to sign a document that would guarantee these policies.
II. Distribution of Information: GEO-BC believes that the university must keep the union informed as to the composition of the bargaining unit (TAs and GAs). As such, the GEO has proposed that the university periodically transmit information (names, departments, and addresses) to the union. Without this data, the GEO will not have the means to contact its membership regularly.
Result: While the administration has agreed to give the GEO minimal information on a semester basis, nevertheless they have refused to agree to provide GEO with addresses or the ID numbers for members of the bargaining unit.
III. Employee Rights: The GEO and the university have traded proposals and counter-proposals on the issue of employee rights. One of the most crucial issues has been insuring that international students would receive assistance from the university if they have difficulty securing documentation to stay in the United States. Another area is employee workspace, which covers the minimum conditions that the university must provide to TAs and GAs to perform their jobs. A third issue is union rights, including GEO access to department orientations, campus meetings, and release time from work for members to attend GEO functions.
Result: Less than stellar. The university has not shown a commitment to protecting international students as they enter the U.S. On the second issue of employee workspaces, the proposals of the university and GEO-BC are almost identical, so a compromise may soon be reached. On the issue of union rights, the administration has refused to address the issue, nor has it provided any sign that it will offer a counter proposal that would give grad employees access to the union at campus functions.
IV. Grievance Procedure: Grievance refers to the process that employees use if they feel that their rights under the contract have been violated. The GEO wants its members to have maximum rights when it comes to filing a complaint and assurances that the process will be fair and expeditious to all parties.
Result: The GEO and the administration, after several weeks of negotiations, have come close in the details of how long an employee has to file a grievance and the choice of an arbitrator. However, there is still disagreement about the definition of a grievance. In particular, the university wants to shield some of its practices from the judgment of an arbitrator by calling them “academic.” What the university says is “academic” – the GEO calls “suspicious.”
The next bargaining session is Wednesday July 2nd, from 1PM-4PM at Grainger Engineering Library in room 329 (south side of Springfield between Mathews and Wright). All graduate employees are invited to observe the process. For more information, please contact the GEO office at 344-8283 or by email.