Members of the GEO Solidarity Committee, currently an Ad Hoc Committee, are proposing a Solidarity Amendment to the GEO constitution. The proposed amendment would amplify the mission of the GEO to stand in solidarity with social justice and workers’ rights issues, and create a constitutionally-mandated Solidarity Committee, as well as a Solidarity Officer position who would be [...]
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Dear GEO members, You likely received an email today from the Administration distorting and outright denying the claims we have made as a union. First, this type of correspondence from the Administration is not uncommon during this point of contract negotiations. Indeed, similar emails went out in the days leading up to and during the [...]
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: TEACHING ASSISTANTS’ UNION WINS LANDMARK ARBITRATION CASE AGAINST MAJOR PUBLIC UNIVERSITY Urbana-Champaign, IL (October 3): The Graduate Employees’ Organization at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has won a landmark arbitration ruling in a contract dispute with UIUC administrators over tuition waivers. An independent arbitrator has ruled that an attempt by [...]
While the GEO was pleased to see the 2-page article in Wednesday’s Daily Illini covering the history and structure of our organization, there were several issues presented which bear further clarification. The article stated: “But fewer than half of those assistants are actually union members and thus have no say in how the union budget [...]
On Sunday afternoon, February 27, I joined with several hundred union members and activists dedicated to keeping the Wisconsin Capitol building open, despite Gov. Walker’s promise to clear out demonstrators after 4:00 pm. The police and troopers were now under orders to only allow one person in for every two coming out, in an attempt [...]
This Sunday Zach Poppel and I traveled to Madison to support the occupation of the Wisconsin Capitol. I want to share some of my experiences. We had both been energized by the previous day’s experiences—Zach had organized the Springfield rally, which had several dozen GEO participants, and I had gone to Madison with several dozen [...]
Madison, Wednesday, February 23, 2011 Friends, I had the opportunity to spend a day in Madison, participating in the occupation of the Wisconsin State Capitol, as tens of thousands of Wisconsin union members, unorganized workers, students, and citizens, protested against a budget bill introduced by Governor Scott Walker. The bill, in case you have not [...]
Urbana-Champaign (October 6): On October 7, The Urbana-Champaign (UC) United Coalition will hold a rally on campus as part of the National Day of Action to Defend Public Education. The rally will begin at noon at the Alma Mater where the crowd will grade UIUC administrators on their defense of the stated mission and values of [...]
We, the Graduate Employees Organization of the Urbana-Champaign campus, are deeply troubled by the Board of Trustees’ decision this spring to increase tuition by 9.5%. A rise in already high tuition rates makes higher education untenable for working class residents of Illinois—a state where the official unemployment rate is greater than 11%. Particularly troubling was [...]
Members of the Graduate Employees’ Organization (GEO), the Undergraduate-Graduate Alliance (UGA), and the Campus Faculty Association (CFA), joined roughly 15,000 Illinois residents and union members on April 21 for “Lobby Day” in the state capitol. Forming one of the largest rallies in Illinois’ history, participants marched around the statehouse holding signs reading “S.O.S.” and chanting [...]