Incoming, non-resident students in FAA face a tuition differential of over $13,000 a year (tuition rates can be found here).  In Spring 2010, a full 75% of GAs and TAs qualifying for a tuition wavier in the FAA were making significantly less than $1000 a month.  The majority of these students are already struggling with some of the lowest wages on campus and now they will be expected to shoulder their tuition expenses too.

Many have asked, “Can’t these students just change their residency so they are only charged base-rate tuition?” The answer is “No.” The University of Illinois does not permit a change in residency for anyone that moves to the state solely for the purpose of getting an education.  It does not matter if you pay taxes here or own a home, you cannot change your residency if you are a student.  You can read the policy here.

For AY10/11, incoming FAA students have been offered Graduate College scholarships to make up the tuition differential.  These scholarship funds are not guaranteed and can be rescinded at any time. This is surely the beginning of a larger trend to erode graduate student benefits.  Tuition waivers are a benefit of employment and are absolutely necessary to maintaining accessibility to public higher education at UIUC.

The UIUC administration committed to the maintaining tuition waivers—a longstanding and ongoing practice. They lied.

If you have questions and want answers, join us for an Emergency Tuition Waiver Forum on Monday, July 19^th at 5:30pm at the University YMCA (1001 S. Wright St.).

You can read a Tuition Waiver FAQ here.

We fought for tuition waivers in November, let’s fight for them now!

In Solidarity,

–Natalie

GMM September 9 flyer

GEO Member Email Template

FAA Waiver FAQ

Bunsis/AAUP Report on UI Budget

budget info 2010 flyer

GEO 09_12 Contract Summary

why union handbills

picket info flyer

picket info flyer side b final

• What is the Graduate Employees’ Organization, and what are its goals?
• Why should I join the GEO?
• Who is allowed to be a member of the union?
• Are there other universities with graduate employee unions?

Contract Questions

• Did we already have the protections stipulated in the contract?
• What do I do if the contract has been violated?

Unionization and Its Effect on Assistantships and Duties

• I’m an international student. If I join the Union, will the University retaliate against me? Will I be in danger of losing my assistantship or deportation?
• If I join the Union will I be forced to go on strike?
• Won’t a graduate employee union just cost the University more money and lead to a decrease in the number of assistantships?
• I’ve got a good relationship with my advisor and the professor I work under for my assistantship. Will a union damage that relationship and simply be an unnecessary, intrusive third party?

Effect of Unionization on Pay

• I work in the sciences and I am well-paid already. Will the GEO try to raise the stipends of poorly-paid employees by cutting or freezing the pay of well-paid employees?

Dues and Fair Share

• What are dues?
• How will the GEO spend members’ dues money?
• Will the cost of union dues wipe out any increases in pay and benefits we may get?

GEO’s Affiliation With the Illinois and American Federation of Teachers and the AFL-CIO

• The GEO may be okay, but why is it affiliated with national labor unions? What do they know about graduate employees?
• Does the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) control the Graduate Employees’ Organization?

General Questions About the GEO

Question. What is the Graduate Employees’ Organization, and what are its goals?
Answer. The GEO is a democratic member-run union for all graduate employees. Furthermore, the GEO is the official venue through which TAs and GAs can negotiate with the University administration over our healthcare, wages, and other working conditions.
Over the last decade UIUC graduate employees, through the GEO, have pushed for and won better stipends, improvements in health insurance, and other benefits (for a more in depth history of the GEO, see A Brief History of the GEO).
GEO bargains with the university administration in good faith toward mutually agreeable improvements to employment policies and benefits for graduate employees, including a grievance policy for work conflicts, employer-paid health insurance, and smaller classes and paid training for TAs. But most importantly, we want a strong voice in making changes to employment policies and benefits. For more details see our Statement of Mission and Goals.
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Q. Why should I join the GEO?
A. There is strength in numbers. Through a strong and active membership the GEO has made significant improvements in graduate employee working conditions. The most significant improvements include increased stipends, dental insurance, vision care, a full subsidy of the McKinley Fee, a partial subsidy of student insurance, and strong protections against overwork, discrimination, and arbitrary discipline (see the contract summary for more info). Continued demonstration of unity will help enforce the contract we have now and help win improvements in heathcare and working conditions in the future. Furthermore members, and only members, run the GEO. Becoming a member empowers you to have a voice in your union and your working conditions.
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Q. Who is allowed to be a member of the union?
A. All graduate students are encouraged to become members of the GEO. As an organization, the GEO is committed to representing the interests of all graduate students with assistantships. In 2002, GEO won collective bargaining rights for most Teaching and Graduate Assistants through direct actions. Unfortunately the University remains steadfast in denying RAs and PGAs the same rights that TAs and GAs now take for granted. All members in good standing of the GEO may vote regardless of current employment status. RAs and PGAs are encouraged to join so that GEO can more effectively ensure that the economic benefits won through the contract are extended to all graduate employees.
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Q. Are there other universities with graduate employee unions?
A. Yes. There are over 30 campuses with unions bargaining contracts for graduate student employees, including the Universities of Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, Kansas, California, Oregon, Massachusetts, SUNY, and others. Graduate employee unions have been around since the 1970s. (For links to other graduate employee unions, see our Links page or see the Coalition of Graduate Employee Unions web site.) You can find out more information on what some of these other graduate employee unions have won by visiting our Contract Comparison page.)
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Contract Questions

Q. Did we already have the protections that are stipulated in the contract?
A. No. Many of the procedures and protections resemble current university policy or practice while some protections are new. A recurring problem prior to the contract was that policies were only enforced when it was convenient for the administration to do so. The contract is legally binding and has a built-in procedure to enforce the contract that ends in third-party binding arbitration. This means that a body other than the University administration decides whether the contract has been violated.
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Q. What do I do if the contract has been violated?
A. Contact the GEO immediately! The contract incorporates both informal and more formal methods of filing grievances and also let the individual grievant decide which method is most appropriate for his or her particular grievance. GEO has a lot of experience helping individual graduate employees with grievances. Also, see our Grievance Help page.
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Unionization and Its Effect on Assistantships and Duties

Q. I’m an international student. If I join the union, will the university retaliate against me? Will I be in danger of losing my assistantship or deportation?
A. No. Every international graduate student, regardless of national origin or type of visa, has the right to join a union. Your right to belong to a union is protected by the right to freedom of association guaranteed in the United States Constitution. The University’s own Preamble to the Students Rights section of the Code of Policies and Regulations Applying to All Students states that students "have at least the rights and responsibilities common to all citizens." This statement is not exclusionary of international students — it applies to all of us. The University’s non-discrimination statement also says that they cannot discriminate against someone because of their "national origin."
That discrimination exists against international students, however, is clear. This is even more of a reason that international students should join the GEO and help fight for more protections. Only with a union, independent of the University administration, can you be assured that if you are subject to discrimination by the administration that there is a group that will stand behind you and will help to defend you.
In fact, international graduate assistants have many reasons to join the union. First, the union can provide a voice and advocacy for international graduate students who don’t always know the U.S. university system. Second, the union can help ensure that departmental hiring practices are clear, open, and fair so that international graduate students don’t miss out on work opportunities. Third, since U.S. law prohibits international students from being paid for more than 20 hours per week, the need for a insuring that the minimum stipend guarantees a decent living standard is even more critical for them. Fourth, better and more affordable benefits, a fair and enforceable grievance procedure, higher wages, a voice in our working conditions, and respect as employees are things all assistants and their families deserve.
(For more information on your rights as an international graduate employee, call the GEO office at 344-8283, write us at geo@uigeo.org, and check out our web page on the GEO and International Student Rights.)
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Q. If I join the Union will I be forced to go on strike?
A. No. A work action can only be authorized by a vote of the union’s membership. A strike can only work if people support it of their own accord. The GEO’s Constitution ensures a member’s right to dissent through protections of the freedom of speech, protections against discrimination on the basis of political beliefs, and guarantees against limitations on an employee’s right to choose the time and manner of his or her work. Nowhere in the Constitution is the union’s leadership authorized to fine or discipline members for non-participation in a strike or for any other reason.
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Q. Doesn’t a graduate employee union just cost the University more money and lead to a decrease in the number of assistantships?
A. Not necessarily. The data from UIUC shows that there is little correlation between providing good pay and benefits to grads and decreasing the number of assistantships. In 2002, prior to grads winning the bulk of the economic benefits, the University of Illinois greatly reduced the number of TAships available. The evidence from unionized campuses like the Universities of Wisconsin and Michigan shows that fair pay and benefits do not result in a decline in the number of assistantships. University of Wisconsin graduate employees bargained union contracts between 1970 and 1979, but the UW administration refused to bargain from 1979 to 1987. UW Teaching Assistants and Project Assistants won union rights again in 1987 and have bargained regular contracts since 1988. Since 1988 the number of assistantships at the UW has actually gone up at the from 2,373 to 2,839. At University of Michigan TAs and Staff Assistants won their first contract in 1975 when there were 1,200 employees. In 2000 there were 1,650 assistants.
Budgets for assistantships are not fixed. They are dependent on undergraduate enrollment (demand for teachers) and graduate enrollment (supply of teachers). Budgets at state universities are also very political. We can have a greater impact on the political process if we are organized than if we have to rely on the good will of the legislature.
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Q. I’ve got a good relationship with my advisor and the professor I work under for my assistantship. Will a union damage that relationship and simply be an unnecessary, intrusive third party?
A. No. There are over 30 campuses in the United States and Canada where graduate employees have chosen to unionize and there is no evidence that collective bargaining has damaged relationships between graduate employees and their advisors. In fact, a survey by Gordon Hewitt (a researcher at Tufts University) found that graduate student unions tend to create a positive environment on campus. Hewitt surveyed almost 300 faculty members in the liberal arts and sciences at universities with recognized graduate employee unions including the University of Massachusetts, SUNY Buffalo, the University of Florida, the University of Michigan and the University of Oregon. A faculty member at one of the universities said, "The graduate student union [on] our campus has had a positive impact on the working and, in turn, studying and research lives of our grad students. For our department, the contracts negotiated to date have helped regularize hiring, working and disciplinary procedures in positive ways." Graduate student unions don’t get in the way of good relationships between faculty and students because that’s not what their membership wants. The union’s purpose is to intervene when abuses occur. For a more information on this issue, read the article concerning Hewitt’s study in the January 2000 edition of "The Organizer."
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Effect of Unionization on Pay

Q. I work in the sciences and I am well-paid already. Will the GEO try to raise the stipends of poorly-paid employees by cutting or freezing the pay of well-paid employees?
A. No. The contract only stipulates minimum raises and stipends.The union is about “leveling up,” not down, and has stated on many occasions that, as a matter of principle, it will not seek to freeze or cut anyone’s pay to fund pay increases for others. In fact, the GEO constitution prohibits bargaining for pay caps or limits to employees’ rights to choose the time and manner of their work.
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Dues and Fair Share

Q. What are the dues?
A. Every graduate employee covered by the contract is required to pay a "fair share fee" or "representation fee" (2% of the paycheck) to the union. Graduate employees who join the GEO pay the same amount. While membership is optional, the dues are mandatory. Under state law a union is required to represent everyone in the bargaining unit in contract negotiations and disputes. Therefore everyone who benefits from the union is required to fund the services. Membership dues for individuals outside the bargaining unit are currently set at a flat $3 per month.
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Q. How will dues be spent?
A. Running and effective union requires many expenses including staff, office space, computers, office equipment, mailings, supplies, etc. Also, as an affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers we pool money together with other locals to pay for legal support, legislative campaigns, trainings for members, and advisors to help us bargain and deal with grievances. Elected officers allocate the GEO’s local budget, and GEO has delegates who help determine how pooled resources are spent. With a financially healthy union we can enforce the contract and gain strength for the next contract fight. For more information, see a summary of the current GEO Budget.
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Q. Will the cost of union dues wipe out any increases in pay and benefits we may get?
A. No. Dues have been set in such a way that everyone covered by the contract has benefits that far outweigh dues. For example, a TA in Chemistry with a 50% appointment would pay around $35/month in dues. However, that employee would take home and additional $122/month in 2005-6 due to the contract! This is even more impressive when you factor in past victories (such as fully subsidized vision and dental) and non-economic benefits and protections grads now enjoy.
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GEO’s Affiliation With the Illinois and American Federation of Teachers and the AFL-CIO

Q. The GEO may be okay, but why is it affiliated with national labor unions? What do they know about graduate employees?
A. As professionals working in higher education, graduate employees share much with the other members of our state and national affiliates. The GEO is affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), a 1,000,000-member organization that represents graduate employees at the Universities of Wisconsin (Madison and Milwaukee), Michigan, Kansas, Florida, South Florida and Oregon, Temple, Wayne State, Michigan State, the City University of New York, Oregon State, Florida A&M, as well as college professors, K-12 teachers and other public employees. Our state affiliate, the Illinois Federation of Teachers (IFT), with over 85,000 members, represents professors at Eastern, Western, and Northern Illinois Universities as well as professors at many community colleges in the state, K-12 teachers and other public employees. Within the AFT we are part of the Alliance of Graduate Employee Locals (AGEL) that helps to coordinate policy for the AFT. The GEO is a very large local within the IFT and sends delegates to the IFT and AFT conventions, which set policy and oversee budgets at the state and national level. Through our affiliation with the national AFL-CIO we are part of a network of unions across the country that are fighting for workplace and economic justice just as we are. The AFL-CIO provides valuable resources and knowledge that benefits us in our drive for recognition and that will help us as we move into negotiations with the administration. Besides providing solidarity in our struggle, they also lobby in Washington DC on behalf of working people and for policies that enhance our rights as employees.
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Q. Does the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) control the Graduate Employees’ Organization?
A. The Graduate Employees’ Organization (GEO) was formed in 1988 by Teaching, Research, and Graduate Assistants on this campus with an eye to improve their own salaries, health care, and workload. In 1995, after much research and discussion, the GEO membership voted to affiliate with the Illinois Federation of Teachers (IFT) and its parent union the American Federation of Teachers (AFT). The AFT has proven experience with higher education: it represents graduate employees at the universities of Wisconsin, Michigan, Kansas, Oregon, and Temple, as well as college professors across the country. On these campuses graduate employees run their own unions by electing their own officers, filing their own grievances, and bargaining their own contracts. The most important factor in choosing to affiliate with the AFT was that they offered us a network of support and resources without threatening the autonomy of our union as a democratic organization, which has always and will always be run by us and for us — its graduate employee members. This full organizational autonomy is guaranteed by our constitution. In short, the “outside” voices the administration fears are really the “inside” voices of graduate employees in a strong, democratic union.
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2006-2009 Agreement
Ratified and Signed!

FAQs from bargaining are available here.

1/29/07

GEO Enters Federal Mediation, Holds Open Office Hours

Champaign ?The Graduate Employees? Organization (GEO) will enter into federal mediation with University of Illinois administrators this Wednesday, January 31, in hopes of resolving contract negotiations that have been going on since April 2006. In the contingency that a compromise cannot be reached, the GEO membership voted last week to file ?Intent to Strike? paperwork, a legal requirement of the Labor Board which simply allows the GEO to plan for all possible work actions. An action such as a general strike or partial work stoppage would be a last resort and must be authorized by a special membership vote.
Members of the GEO have held rallies throughout the year protesting the administration?s sluggish response to renew the expired contract. Ideally, TAs would be able to just focus on their jobs. To convey their commitment to teaching as well as the balance required to struggle for fair negotiations, GEO TAs are holding ?Open Office Hours? on Tuesday, January 30, from 10 am to 2 pm in the Illini Union Courtyard Café. Students needing help with coursework have been asked to meet their teachers there, as opposed to their offices, and anyone with questions about the GEO is also invited to drop in.
GEO negotiators and members are confident that an acceptable agreement can be worked out via mediation. Filing the intent to strike notice, however, is a legally required measure. Christopher Simeone, lead negotiator for the GEO, states, ?We have to protect the interests of our membership and we are prepared to take all necessary steps to do so.? Currently, the GEO has proposed a contract which includes full health coverage for all TAs and GAs, 50 percent coverage for their dependents, and a stipend increase across the membership that would help meet the rising costs of living. The University administration estimates $13, 572 as a reasonable cost of living in Champaign-Urbana (www.oar.uiuc.edu-grad_expenses.html) for 2006-07, yet its counter-proposal to the GEO falls $986 below that figure and includes no coverage for dependents. In addition, the administration?s proposal does nothing to cap student fees, which this year total $1,432 for incoming students ($620 in unwaived academic fees, $312 in health fees, and a new $500 fee for the academic facilities maintenance fund). Although these fees mean graduate employees live on much less than the stated amount of their stipends, they are taxed on the total. Therefore, the administration?s proposal leaves open the possibility that future fee increases will cancel out any small wage gains. The GEO?s request for a 4.5% wage increase corrects for inflation and takes a modest but positive step toward closing the living wage gap.
For more information on the GEO, contract negotiations, and other union news, visit www.uigeo.org or contact the GEO office at (217) 344-8283.

GEO and UIUC administration to enter mediation; Graduate employees show solidarity at on-campus ?grade-in?

The Graduate Employees Organization (GEO) and University of Illinois administrators agreed today to seek mediation following administrators? rejection of the GEO?s latest proposal. During the afternoon bargaining session, administrators refused to engage in dialogue about the offer. Meanwhile, in the midst of final exams, some fifty GEO members held a ?grade-in? to emphasize the hard work for which all teaching assistants deserve just compensation.
Although the GEO?s current proposal represents significant movement from previous proposals, Mr. Steven Veazie, lead attorney for the administration bargaining team, classified the package offer as ?unacceptable.? Instead, Veazie re-proposed the administration?s previous offer of a 2.5% stipend increase. GEO members, however, have already resoundingly rejected that offer in a general meeting last month. Not only does it fall far short of the University?s own estimated $13,572 cost of living [1], but it does not even keep up with the 3% annual inflation projected by the most recent University strategic plan. It also fails to cap non-tuition fees which can rise from year to year and significantly cut into wage increases won at the bargaining table.
Despite acceding to the administration?s last minute change in location to the relatively less accessible Assembly Hall for the negotiations themselves, the GEO went ahead with its planned ?grade-in? at Grainger Engineering Library, the originally agreed upon bargaining location. Especially designed to be non-disruptive, the activity allowed teaching assistants (TAs) and their supporters to join together in a show of solidarity without losing precious work hours during one of the University?s busiest weeks, when many graduate students are furiously grading undergraduate exams even as they finish their own term papers and projects. Participating graduate employees expressed their disappointment with the administration?s sudden imposition of a location change for the bargaining session. ?The administration wants to keep our work invisible,? said Faiza Zafar, graduate student. ?They prefer to imagine that we?re not an integral part of this university.? By many estimates, however, graduate employees teach approximately 30% of UIUC undergraduate courses, and almost 40% at the freshman level. ?I think they?re shooting themselves in the foot,? said Steven Jug, history department TA, in reference to the possibility that top-notch applicants will choose peer institutions where wages and health benefits are higher.
The GEO is confident that entering into a mediation process will lead to substantive and fair improvements in the compensation and working conditions of graduate employees on the UIUC campus.
1 ? http://www.oar.uiuc.edu/current/financial/grad_expenses.html

Graduate Employees to University:
?Bargain in Good Faith!?

TAs and GAs Demand Fair Pay, Healthcare as Contract Expires

Graduate employees at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign will rally today, demanding that the administration negotiate with them in good faith as their contract expires.
?The fall semester begins one week from today,? said Christopher Simeone, lead negotiator for the Graduate Employees? Organization (GEO). ?Rather than greeting teaching assistants and graduate assistants with job security and respect, the University will welcome us back with frozen wages and unaffordable health care.?
The GEO has been negotiating its second contract with the University for three months. However, the administration has been unwilling to compromise on wages, student fees, and health insurance costs. The University has chosen to freeze grad employees? wages this semester, despite the rising cost of living.
?Nearly one third of all classes at this University are taught by graduate employees, but 40 percent of us are unable to afford health insurance for our families,? said Simeone. ?We are the backbone of the U of I. We should not be forced to work without a contract.?
Place: Outside of Grainger Engineering Library
1301 W. Springfield Avenue
Urbana, IL
Time: Tuesday August 15, 1:30 PM
The Graduate Employees? Organization represents 2,800 graduate employees at the University of Illinois. For more information, visit www.uigeo.org .

Grad Contract Expires in Two Months?Still no Agreement on Healthcare, other Issues.

Graduate employees at the University of Illinois do the work of educated professionals, teaching classes, assisting professors, and running university programs. But when they have to visit a doctor, U of I healthcare treats them like students, not like other campus professionals. The Graduate employees at the U of I have been bargaining with the University since April, and they will take up the issue of health care on June 30th, 2006 when they next meet with University administrators.
In recent labor negotiations with University administrators, the Graduate Employees? Organization (GEO) proposed a more comprehensive health insurance plan for employees that would reduce everyday healthcare expenses and provide affordable dependent coverage.
The University dismissed the health care needs of over 2,700 teaching and graduate assistants currently employed at the U of I and represented by the GEO, when it swiftly issued a ?NO? response to their proposals.
Compared to other Universities, the healthcare that the U of I offers appears expensive and inadequate. Some graduate employees are forced to take out high-interest loans or go without care all together. Other universities, such as Michigan State and the University of Michigan, pay up to 95% of premium costs for single coverage holders. Michigan State will also contribute up to 70% of the premium cost for family care. In contrast, the U of I contributes no money towards family healthcare, and meets only 25% of premium costs for single coverage holders.
?Four in ten graduate employees say they cannot afford healthcare for their children, leaving them uninsured or dependent on state programs,? said Christopher Simeone, a GEO member and lead negotiator. ?The University lectures us about ?living in the real world.? But we know about the real world. Many of us cannot meet basic living expenses because of costly medical bills. Our families go without care while we work hard to provide high-quality education to the thousands of students at the U of I.?
GEO members are committed to working out a solution that is agreeable to both the University and graduate employees. ?Better healthcare has never hurt anyone,? said Dave Morris, a GEO member. ?It is in the best interest of both the University and students to take good care of the grad employees.?
?It?s time for professionals to get the healthcare they deserve,? said Simeone.
?While other professionals at the U of I have adequate health coverage, ours caters to ?students? with minimal needs. The University must accept responsibility for the well-being of its workforce and take our healthcare issues seriously.?

Here are some frequently asked questions that pertain to international
students. You can find more answers to questions like these on our FAQ
page. If you still have questions about the GEO or rights, contact
the geo at geo@uigeo.org or call us
at 344-8283. We’d be happy to talk with you about any concerns or questions
you may have.

Q. Do I have the same Constitutional protections as
domestic students?

A. YES, international students
have protection under the Constitution. This right has been repeatedly
upheld in the U.S. Supreme Court:

• In Yick Wo v. Hopkins, 118 U.S. 356 (1986), the Supreme
  Court held that the constitution, and in particular the 14th amendment,
  applied to all inhabitants of the U.S. who are "either permanently
  or temporarily residing in the territory of the United States."
  • 14th Amendment, Section 1: All persons born or naturalized in
    the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are
    citizens of the United States
    and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce
    any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens
    of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of
    life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny
    to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the
    laws.

• In Bridges v. California, 314 U.S. 252 (1941), the
  Supreme Court ruled that the First Amendment’s guarantees of free
  speech
  and association apply to internationals.
  • 1st Amendment: Congress shall make no law respecting
    an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise
    thereof; or abridging the
    freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people
    peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for
    a redress of grievances.

Q. I’m an international student. If I join the Union,
will the University retaliate against me? Will I be in danger of losing
my assistantship or deportation?

A. No. Every international graduate student, regardless
of national origin or type of visa, has the right to join a union. Your
right to belong to a union is protected by the right to freedom of association
guaranteed in the United States Constitution. The United Nations Universal
Declaration of Human Rights Article 20 also says that "Everyone has
the right to form and join trade unions for the protection of his (or
her) interests." The University’s own Statement
on Individual Rights from the Code of Policies and Regulations Applying
to All Students states that students "have at least the rights
and responsibilities common to all citizens." This statement is
not exclusionary of international students–it applies to all of us.
The University’s
non-discrimination statement also says that they cannot discriminate
against someone because of their "national origin."

That discrimination exists against international students,
however, is clear. This is even more of a reason that international students
should join the GEO and help fight for union recognition. Only with an
union, independent of the University administration, can you be assured
that if you are subject to discrimination by the administration that there
is a group that will stand behind you and will help to defend you.

In fact, international graduate assistants have many reasons
to join the Union and fight for representation:

• The union can provide a voice and advocacy for international
  graduate students who don’t always know the U.S. university system.
• A union can help ensure that departmental hiring practices are
  clear, open, and fair so that international graduate students don’t
  miss out on work opportunities.
• Since U.S. law prohibits international students from being paid for
  more than 20 hours per week, the need for a minimum stipend that
  guarantees a decent living standard is even more critical for them.
• Better and more affordable benefits, a fair and enforceable grievance
  procedure, higher wages, a voice in our working conditions, and respect
  as employees are things all assistants and their families deserve.

Links to other web pages about GEO’s involvement in issues
important to international students:

4/2003: Spouses of International Students Allowed to Obtain Driver’s
Licenses, Briefly

9/2002: GEO Reacts To New Policy On International Grad Employee Pay

2/2001: International
Grads Working for Justice

9/2000-12/2001: International
Graduate Assistants Docked Pay!

3/1999: University
to End In-State Tuition Benefit for Spouses of Graduate Employees

11/1998: Orchard
Downs Residents Call for Renovations to Ailing Grad Housing Units

2/1997: Fair
and Just: International Grads Support Unionization

11/1997: Orchard
Downs: Keep It Affordable for Graduate Families

• What is the Graduate Employees’ Organization, and what are its goals?
• Why should I join the GEO?
• Who is allowed to be a member of the union?
• Are there other universities with graduate employee unions?

Contract Questions

• Did we already have the protections stipulated in the contract?
• What do I do if the contract has been violated?

Unionization and Its Effect on Assistantships and Duties

• I’m an international student. If I join the Union, will the University retaliate against me? Will I be in danger of losing my assistantship or deportation?
• If I join the Union will I be forced to go on strike?
• Won’t a graduate employee union just cost the University more money and lead to a decrease in the number of assistantships?
• I’ve got a good relationship with my advisor and the professor I work under for my assistantship. Will a union damage that relationship and simply be an unnecessary, intrusive third party?

Effect of Unionization on Pay

• I work in the sciences and I am well-paid already. Will the GEO try to raise the stipends of poorly-paid employees by cutting or freezing the pay of well-paid employees?

Dues and Fair Share

• What are dues?
• How will the GEO spend members’ dues money?
• Will the cost of union dues wipe out any increases in pay and benefits we may get?

GEO’s Affiliation With the Illinois and American Federation of Teachers and the AFL-CIO

• The GEO may be okay, but why is it affiliated with national labor unions? What do they know about graduate employees?
• Does the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) control the Graduate Employees’ Organization?

General Questions About the GEO

Question. What is the Graduate Employees’ Organization, and what are its goals?
Answer. The GEO is a democratic member-run union for all graduate employees. Furthermore, the GEO is the official venue through which TAs and GAs can negotiate with the University administration over our healthcare, wages, and other working conditions.
Over the last decade UIUC graduate employees, through the GEO, have pushed for and won better stipends, improvements in health insurance, and other benefits (for a more in depth history of the GEO, see A Brief History of the GEO).
GEO bargains with the university administration in good faith toward mutually agreeable improvements to employment policies and benefits for graduate employees, including a grievance policy for work conflicts, employer-paid health insurance, and smaller classes and paid training for TAs. But most importantly, we want a strong voice in making changes to employment policies and benefits. For more details see our Statement of Mission and Goals.
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Q. Why should I join the GEO?
A. There is strength in numbers. Through a strong and active membership the GEO has made significant improvements in graduate employee working conditions. The most significant improvements include increased stipends, dental insurance, vision care, a full subsidy of the McKinley Fee, a partial subsidy of student insurance, and strong protections against overwork, discrimination, and arbitrary discipline (see the contract summary for more info). Continued demonstration of unity will help enforce the contract we have now and help win improvements in heathcare and working conditions in the future. Furthermore members, and only members, run the GEO. Becoming a member empowers you to have a voice in your union and your working conditions.
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Q. Who is allowed to be a member of the union?
A. All graduate students are encouraged to become members of the GEO. As an organization, the GEO is committed to representing the interests of all graduate students with assistantships. In 2002, GEO won collective bargaining rights for most Teaching and Graduate Assistants through direct actions. Unfortunately the University remains steadfast in denying RAs and PGAs the same rights that TAs and GAs now take for granted. All members in good standing of the GEO may vote regardless of current employment status. RAs and PGAs are encouraged to join so that GEO can more effectively ensure that the economic benefits won through the contract are extended to all graduate employees.
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Q. Are there other universities with graduate employee unions?
A. Yes. There are over 30 campuses with unions bargaining contracts for graduate student employees, including the Universities of Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, Kansas, California, Oregon, Massachusetts, SUNY, and others. Graduate employee unions have been around since the 1970s. (For links to other graduate employee unions, see our Links page or see the Coalition of Graduate Employee Unions web site.) You can find out more information on what some of these other graduate employee unions have won by visiting our Contract Comparison page.)
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Contract Questions

Q. Did we already have the protections that are stipulated in the contract?
A. No. Many of the procedures and protections resemble current university policy or practice while some protections are new. A recurring problem prior to the contract was that policies were only enforced when it was convenient for the administration to do so. The contract is legally binding and has a built-in procedure to enforce the contract that ends in third-party binding arbitration. This means that a body other than the University administration decides whether the contract has been violated.
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Q. What do I do if the contract has been violated?
A. Contact the GEO immediately! The contract incorporates both informal and more formal methods of filing grievances and also let the individual grievant decide which method is most appropriate for his or her particular grievance. GEO has a lot of experience helping individual graduate employees with grievances. Also, see our Grievance Help page.
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Unionization and Its Effect on Assistantships and Duties

Q. I’m an international student. If I join the union, will the university retaliate against me? Will I be in danger of losing my assistantship or deportation?
A. No. Every international graduate student, regardless of national origin or type of visa, has the right to join a union. Your right to belong to a union is protected by the right to freedom of association guaranteed in the United States Constitution. The University’s own Preamble to the Students Rights section of the Code of Policies and Regulations Applying to All Students states that students "have at least the rights and responsibilities common to all citizens." This statement is not exclusionary of international students — it applies to all of us. The University’s non-discrimination statement also says that they cannot discriminate against someone because of their "national origin."
That discrimination exists against international students, however, is clear. This is even more of a reason that international students should join the GEO and help fight for more protections. Only with a union, independent of the University administration, can you be assured that if you are subject to discrimination by the administration that there is a group that will stand behind you and will help to defend you.
In fact, international graduate assistants have many reasons to join the union. First, the union can provide a voice and advocacy for international graduate students who don’t always know the U.S. university system. Second, the union can help ensure that departmental hiring practices are clear, open, and fair so that international graduate students don’t miss out on work opportunities. Third, since U.S. law prohibits international students from being paid for more than 20 hours per week, the need for a insuring that the minimum stipend guarantees a decent living standard is even more critical for them. Fourth, better and more affordable benefits, a fair and enforceable grievance procedure, higher wages, a voice in our working conditions, and respect as employees are things all assistants and their families deserve.
(For more information on your rights as an international graduate employee, call the GEO office at 344-8283, write us at geo@uigeo.org, and check out our web page on the GEO and International Student Rights.)
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Q. If I join the Union will I be forced to go on strike?
A. No. A work action can only be authorized by a vote of the union’s membership. A strike can only work if people support it of their own accord. The GEO’s Constitution ensures a member’s right to dissent through protections of the freedom of speech, protections against discrimination on the basis of political beliefs, and guarantees against limitations on an employee’s right to choose the time and manner of his or her work. Nowhere in the Constitution is the union’s leadership authorized to fine or discipline members for non-participation in a strike or for any other reason.
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Q. Doesn’t a graduate employee union just cost the University more money and lead to a decrease in the number of assistantships?
A. Not necessarily. The data from UIUC shows that there is little correlation between providing good pay and benefits to grads and decreasing the number of assistantships. In 2002, prior to grads winning the bulk of the economic benefits, the University of Illinois greatly reduced the number of TAships available. The evidence from unionized campuses like the Universities of Wisconsin and Michigan shows that fair pay and benefits do not result in a decline in the number of assistantships. University of Wisconsin graduate employees bargained union contracts between 1970 and 1979, but the UW administration refused to bargain from 1979 to 1987. UW Teaching Assistants and Project Assistants won union rights again in 1987 and have bargained regular contracts since 1988. Since 1988 the number of assistantships at the UW has actually gone up at the from 2,373 to 2,839. At University of Michigan TAs and Staff Assistants won their first contract in 1975 when there were 1,200 employees. In 2000 there were 1,650 assistants.
Budgets for assistantships are not fixed. They are dependent on undergraduate enrollment (demand for teachers) and graduate enrollment (supply of teachers). Budgets at state universities are also very political. We can have a greater impact on the political process if we are organized than if we have to rely on the good will of the legislature.
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Q. I’ve got a good relationship with my advisor and the professor I work under for my assistantship. Will a union damage that relationship and simply be an unnecessary, intrusive third party?
A. No. There are over 30 campuses in the United States and Canada where graduate employees have chosen to unionize and there is no evidence that collective bargaining has damaged relationships between graduate employees and their advisors. In fact, a survey by Gordon Hewitt (a researcher at Tufts University) found that graduate student unions tend to create a positive environment on campus. Hewitt surveyed almost 300 faculty members in the liberal arts and sciences at universities with recognized graduate employee unions including the University of Massachusetts, SUNY Buffalo, the University of Florida, the University of Michigan and the University of Oregon. A faculty member at one of the universities said, "The graduate student union [on] our campus has had a positive impact on the working and, in turn, studying and research lives of our grad students. For our department, the contracts negotiated to date have helped regularize hiring, working and disciplinary procedures in positive ways." Graduate student unions don’t get in the way of good relationships between faculty and students because that’s not what their membership wants. The union’s purpose is to intervene when abuses occur. For a more information on this issue, read the article concerning Hewitt’s study in the January 2000 edition of "The Organizer."
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Effect of Unionization on Pay

Q. I work in the sciences and I am well-paid already. Will the GEO try to raise the stipends of poorly-paid employees by cutting or freezing the pay of well-paid employees?
A. No. The contract only stipulates minimum raises and stipends.The union is about “leveling up,” not down, and has stated on many occasions that, as a matter of principle, it will not seek to freeze or cut anyone’s pay to fund pay increases for others. In fact, the GEO constitution prohibits bargaining for pay caps or limits to employees’ rights to choose the time and manner of their work.
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Dues and Fair Share

Q. What are the dues?
A. Every graduate employee covered by the contract is required to pay a "fair share fee" or "representation fee" (2% of the paycheck) to the union. Graduate employees who join the GEO pay the same amount. While membership is optional, the dues are mandatory. Under state law a union is required to represent everyone in the bargaining unit in contract negotiations and disputes. Therefore everyone who benefits from the union is required to fund the services. Membership dues for individuals outside the bargaining unit are currently set at a flat $3 per month.
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Q. How will dues be spent?
A. Running and effective union requires many expenses including staff, office space, computers, office equipment, mailings, supplies, etc. Also, as an affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers we pool money together with other locals to pay for legal support, legislative campaigns, trainings for members, and advisors to help us bargain and deal with grievances. Elected officers allocate the GEO’s local budget, and GEO has delegates who help determine how pooled resources are spent. With a financially healthy union we can enforce the contract and gain strength for the next contract fight. For more information, see a summary of the current GEO Budget.
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Q. Will the cost of union dues wipe out any increases in pay and benefits we may get?
A. No. Dues have been set in such a way that everyone covered by the contract has benefits that far outweigh dues. For example, a TA in Chemistry with a 50% appointment would pay around $35/month in dues. However, that employee would take home and additional $122/month in 2005-6 due to the contract! This is even more impressive when you factor in past victories (such as fully subsidized vision and dental) and non-economic benefits and protections grads now enjoy.
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GEO’s Affiliation With the Illinois and American Federation of Teachers and the AFL-CIO

Q. The GEO may be okay, but why is it affiliated with national labor unions? What do they know about graduate employees?
A. As professionals working in higher education, graduate employees share much with the other members of our state and national affiliates. The GEO is affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), a 1,000,000-member organization that represents graduate employees at the Universities of Wisconsin (Madison and Milwaukee), Michigan, Kansas, Florida, South Florida and Oregon, Temple, Wayne State, Michigan State, the City University of New York, Oregon State, Florida A&M, as well as college professors, K-12 teachers and other public employees. Our state affiliate, the Illinois Federation of Teachers (IFT), with over 85,000 members, represents professors at Eastern, Western, and Northern Illinois Universities as well as professors at many community colleges in the state, K-12 teachers and other public employees. Within the AFT we are part of the Alliance of Graduate Employee Locals (AGEL) that helps to coordinate policy for the AFT. The GEO is a very large local within the IFT and sends delegates to the IFT and AFT conventions, which set policy and oversee budgets at the state and national level. Through our affiliation with the national AFL-CIO we are part of a network of unions across the country that are fighting for workplace and economic justice just as we are. The AFL-CIO provides valuable resources and knowledge that benefits us in our drive for recognition and that will help us as we move into negotiations with the administration. Besides providing solidarity in our struggle, they also lobby in Washington DC on behalf of working people and for policies that enhance our rights as employees.
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Q. Does the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) control the Graduate Employees’ Organization?
A. The Graduate Employees’ Organization (GEO) was formed in 1988 by Teaching, Research, and Graduate Assistants on this campus with an eye to improve their own salaries, health care, and workload. In 1995, after much research and discussion, the GEO membership voted to affiliate with the Illinois Federation of Teachers (IFT) and its parent union the American Federation of Teachers (AFT). The AFT has proven experience with higher education: it represents graduate employees at the universities of Wisconsin, Michigan, Kansas, Oregon, and Temple, as well as college professors across the country. On these campuses graduate employees run their own unions by electing their own officers, filing their own grievances, and bargaining their own contracts. The most important factor in choosing to affiliate with the AFT was that they offered us a network of support and resources without threatening the autonomy of our union as a democratic organization, which has always and will always be run by us and for us — its graduate employee members. This full organizational autonomy is guaranteed by our constitution. In short, the “outside” voices the administration fears are really the “inside” voices of graduate employees in a strong, democratic union.
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