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Congratulations to the Chicago Teachers Union on their Victory!

Posted by odellcampbell on September 20, 2012
Posted in: Access and Equality, Bargaining, Current Issues, Higher Ed Unions, K-12 union solidarity, Labor Movement, News, Press Coverage, solidarity, Take Action!. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . Leave a Comment

GEO Local 6300 sends our congratulations to the Chicago Teachers Union on their tentative contract agreement!  Faced with a contract that would have devastated public education in Chicago, Chicago’s public school teachers walked out of the classroom and onto the picket lines.  The House of Delegates has voted to adopt a tentative agreement, and CTU members will now vote on whether to ratify the contract.

The tentative agreement is a resounding victory for education justice in Chicago’s public schools.

The Chicago Teachers Union strike means that more students in more neighborhoods have better access to the education they need.

Because of the strike, working class and poor students in Chicago’s public schools will see: more expert health and other support staff, textbooks available to all students on the first day of classes, fewer great teachers pushed out of public education because of racist and classist standardized testing policies, and fair compensation for the teachers that work hard each and every day for their students.

Check out the full list of contract gains in the tentative agreement here–in this easy to read side by side comparison.   And, here are English and Spanish language versions of a flyer explaining what the strike has meant for Chicago’s students.

The GEO knows what a feat it is for teachers to successfully withhold their labor in defense of fundamental necessities for just and accessible public education–necessities like basic support for neighborhood schools; and tuition waivers for graduate employees working in public universities.

We join the Chicago Teachers Union in declaring:

Until We Win!  Fair Contract Now!

Members of GEO Local 6300 at a Chicago Teachers Union solidarity rally

Chicago Teachers Union Continues Strike

Posted by odellcampbell on September 17, 2012
Posted in: Access and Equality, Current Issues, K-12 union solidarity, Labor Movement, News, Press Coverage, solidarity, Take Action!, UIUC Coalitions. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a Comment

The GEO stands with the Chicago Teachers Union as they continue to strike for public education.

In 2009, the GEO Strike Committee waited to suspend our strike until members were heard through their voices and their votes at a General Membership Meeting.  The Strike Committee took this action because we are a democratic organization wherein members make the decisions.  But some in the UIUC administration falsely accused the GEO of unfairly preventing its members from going back to work.

The CTU Board of Directors has made our 2009 Strike Committee’s decision on a much larger scale: given the impact the Chicago Teachers’ new contract will have on the people of Chicago and the future of public education in this country, the Board refused to suspend a strike until all CTU members were heard.  Sure enough, Mayor Emanuel’s response is to falsely accuse CTU leadership of preventing its members from returning to work.

Our solidarity is our power: the bosses will always try to undermine workers’ rights to form a union.  The University of Illinois Board of Trustees has spent thousands of dollars fighting the recognition of the democratically elected Faculty Association at UI Chicago.  Our labor is our power: The bosses will always try to undermine the unions’ right to strike.  Mayor Emanuel has so far failed in his dishonest bid to force teachers off the picket lines through the courts.

The GEO stands with the CTU because we know that unions win through solidarity and the powerful incentive of our labor.  We stand with the CTU because we know what will happen to U.S. worker’s children if those who seek to profit from public education succeed in their goal of denying the chance for a good education to most working class and students of color.  We stand with the CTU in Chicago because we know that if we choose to follow their example, and withhold our labor in defense of our jobs and of our students, working teachers throughout the midwest will stand with us in Champaign.

Members of UIC and UIUC Graduate Employees Organizations march with the Chicago Teachers Union

UIUC GEO Stands with Chicago Teachers Union!

Posted by odellcampbell on September 14, 2012
Posted in: Access and Equality, Bargaining, Current Issues, Higher Ed Unions, K-12 union solidarity, Labor Movement, Take Action!. Tagged: , , , , , , . Leave a Comment
The members of the Graduate Employees Organization (GEO), Illinois Federation of Teachers Local 6300, AFL-CIO, stand in solidarity with the members of the Chicago Teachers Union, Illinois Federation of Teachers Local 1, Chicago Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO, in their historic strike against the Chicago Public Schools.
GEO members applaud Chicago Teachers Union members’ courageous decision to stage a major strike in an election year, and pledge our support to their efforts to win a fair contract.  The GEO calls on the Chicago Public Schools and Mayor Rahm Emanuel to end their shameful attacks on Chicago’s students, parents, and working teachers, and work in good faith toward a fair contract for Chicago Teachers.
The GEO agrees with Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis that the CTU struggle is for the “very soul of public education” in this country.  The Chicago Teachers made the decision to strike as a demand that high quality public education be made accessible to all K-12 students in the Chicago Public Schools, regardless of racial, geographic, and/or economic circumstances.
Members of the GEO understand that witholding labor is vitally important as a tool in collective bargaining.  It was only by authorizing and then carrying out one of the five largest work stoppages in the United States in 2009 that the GEO was able to secure any reasonable concessions from the University of Illinois Board of Trustees in our current 2009-2012 contract.
As leaders in the struggle for justice and equitable public higher education in the United States, we commend the CTU’s decision to withhold their labor for a contract that protects reasonable class sizes, ensures that all students have access to high quality instruction, protects teachers against discrimination, and promotes the recruitment, retention, and fair compensation of working teachers in Chicago.
Mayor Emanuel says that the Chicago Teachers have acted unreasonably, claiming the the strike is harmful to Chicago students’ education.  Nothing can be farther from the truth: it is the Chicago Public School’s refusal to bargain fairly with the CTU that hurts students.  We in the GEO know from experience that the decision to strike is never easy.  But when other options have been exhausted, striking to protect the future of public education in Chicago and the United States is in the best interest of students, families, teachers, and other Chicago Public Schools employees.  We see no greater evidence of this fact than the presence of working parents and students on the picket lines in solidarity with their teachers.
High quality public education only works when students, teachers, parents, and administrators work together for the future of our schools.  We in the GEO applaud the CTU’s stand for their student’s futures, and condemn the efforts of the mayor of Chicago, and the Republican and Democratic Parties, to pit Chicago students and teachers against each other for their own political gain.
As teaching employees of a public research University, and as fellow members of the Illinois and American Federation of Teachers, we know that labor solidarity in education is necessary to protect the future of high quality and accessible public education at all levels.  We join our sister union, the Graduate Employees Organization at the University of Illinois, Chicago, in urging the people of Chicago and Illinois to support the Chicago Teachers Union in any way that they can.
The Chicago Teachers Union strike is a bold stand for the future of public education and public employee unions not only in Chicago, but in the whole United States.  The members of the GEO pledge our solidarity and support to the Chicago Teachers Union.
In solidarity,
The members of the Graduate Employees Organization, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
The Graduate Employees Organization, AFT/IFT Local 6300, AFL-CIO, The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, represents approximately 2,700 Teaching and Graduate Assistants on the UIUC Campus.  In November 2009,  over 1,000 GEO members successfully went on strike to secure a fair contract for graduate employees and a more accessible UIUC.  The GEO continues to work for justice and equity in public higher education in Illinois.  For more information, please contact GEO Communications Officer Ryne Leuzinger at ryneleuzinger@gmail.com.

Roll on, UIC United!

Posted by odellcampbell on October 24, 2011
Posted in: Bargaining, Current Issues, Higher Ed Unions, Labor Movement, News, Take Action!, UIUC Coalitions. Tagged: , , , , , , , . Leave a Comment

“The faculty union at the University of Illinois at Chicago won another victory Friday, with a ruling by the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board rejecting a request by the university to stay an order certifying the union. The union is the result of a major organizing drive conducted by the American Association of University Professors and the American Federation of Teachers, which have hoped that the effort at UIC would pave the way for more faculty unions at doctoral institutions.”

Read more at the Inside Higher Ed ‘Quick Takes’ Blog.

GEO Tuition Waiver Victory in Landmark Arbitration Ruling!

Posted by odellcampbell on October 3, 2011
Posted in: Bargaining, Current Issues, Grievances, Labor Movement, News, Press Coverage, Take Action!. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . Leave a Comment

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 University of Illinois officials to reduce tuition waivers for some incoming graduate employees represents a clear violation of the contract between the union and the Illinois Board of Trustees.

Tuition waivers are a benefit of employment, which represent no cost to the University. Preventing reduction of tuition waivers will preserve quality of education at Illinois, organizers say, while protecting vital labor standards.

In November 2009, over 1,000 Graduate Employees Organization (GEO) members went on strike to prevent the reduction or elimination of tuition waivers for graduate employees. This was the fifth largest work stoppage in the United States in 2009. They GEO won contract language protecting tuition waivers for current and future Teaching and Graduate Assistants at UIUC.

In the Summer of 2010, the GEO learned of a policy change affecting tuition waivers for incoming graduate employees in several departments in the College of Fine and Applied Arts (FAA). Effective Fall of 2010, incoming graduate employees in these departments were no longer granted waivers for out-of-state tuition. Even with temporary scholarships, many Fine and Applied Arts graduate employees, earning between $7,000.00 and $9,000.00 per academic year, were left with additional fees totaling up to $1,000.00.

This change in tuition waiver policy was a clear violation of the GEO’s contract with the Illinois Board of Trustees. In 2010, the GEO filed a grievance alleging a contract violation, while GEO members launched a public awareness campaign that included email and letter drives, communication with elected officials, testimony to the University of Illinois Board of Trustees, and other events.

By attempting to charge incoming graduate employees tuition in clear violation of its contract with teaching and graduate assistants, administrators have cost the University of Illinois as much as $100,000.00. This is yet another example of flawed budget priorities at UIUC, where the most vulnerable members of the University community are frequently asked to shoulder the burdens of budget shortfalls.

After an arbitration hearing in mid-July, an independent arbitrator on September 20 declared the University’s tuition waiver policy in violation of its contract with the GEO. The arbitrator ordered the U of I administration to make whole any harm done to graduate employees.

The arbitration victory marks a significant achievement for GEO members. According to GEO communications officer Rodrigo Pacheco-McEvoy, “not only does the ruling secure tuition waivers as a benefit of employment for graduate employees, which is absolutely necessary to maintain accessibility to public higher education at UIUC; it also helps protect the arts from budgetary cutbacks.”

While the GEO has much cause to celebrate, the story of tuition waivers and the arts at UIUC is not over. The GEO is entering another bargaining year. According to GEO Co- President Miriam Larsen, “our members are fully committed to protecting the tuition waivers that make a high quality graduate education accessible to a diverse student body.”

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For more information, please contact Rodrigo Pacheco-McEvoy, Communications Officer, at 858-382-2271 or rodrigo.pacheco.mcevoy@gmail.com. More information can also be found on the website at uigeo.org.

GEO Solidarity With Tacoma Education Association

Posted by odellcampbell on August 24, 2011
Posted in: Bargaining, Current Issues, Labor Movement, News, Press Coverage, Take Action!, UIUC Coalitions. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a Comment

The members of the Graduate Employees Organization (GEO), Illinois Federation of Teachers Local 6300, AFL-CIO, stand in solidarity with the members of the Tacoma Education Association (TEA) and their courageous decision to strike for a fair contract.

Members of the GEO understand that withholding labor is vitally important as a tool in collective bargaining.  It was only by first authorizing and then carrying out one of the five largest work stoppages in the United States in 2009 that the GEO was able to secure any reasonable concessions from the University of Illinois Board of Trustees in our current 2009-2012 contract.

The GEO commends the TEA’s decision to withhold education labor as a necessary tool for protecting conditions necessary for a quality public education, including the support and retention of experienced teachers, protecting teachers against discrimination, and contractual protections against excessive class sizes.

The Tacoma Public School officials said that TEA members acted unreasonably, claiming the strike hurt their student’s education.  Nothing can be farther from the truth: it was the Tacoma Public Schools’ refusal to bargain fairly with the TEA that hurt students.  We know that the decision to strike is never easy, but when other options have been exhausted, striking to protect the future of public education in Tacoma is in the best interest of students, families, teachers, and other Tacoma Public School employees.

According to the Tacoma News Tribune, “TEA President Andy Coons…said teachers are modeling for their students how to be active citizens.”  The members of the GEO could not agree more, and we congratulate the TEA on their new contract.

We stand with the TEA in affirming that without a work action demonstrating the resolve and solidarity of TEA members and their allies in the community, it unlikely that the TEA could have successfully resisted district efforts to increase class sizes and denigrate the vital role that experienced teachers play in educating Tacoma’s children.

The News Tribune and other local sources argue that the manner in which the strike was resolved–with mediation overseen by Governor Christine Gregoire–demonstrates that the work action was unnecessary in the first place.  The TNT and others further suggest that the strike was just a power play by the Washington Education Association.

Let us be clear: it is obvious even from the News Tribune’s coverage that this was a strike driven by membership.  Nearly 90% of the TEA bargaining unit voted to strike, and an overwhelming majority of those voted to continue the strike in defiance of an anti-union court order.  And for elected officials to become involved in this manner, unions must first demonstrate the value of their labor through work actions and other demonstrations of solidarity.

If the TEA strike was a Washington Education Association power play, it is a wonderful example of the power of democratic decision making among working teachers to protect their rights and the interests of their students.  We at the GEO hope that other WEA locals will follow the Tacoma Education Association’s courageous example.

As university employees and members of the Illinois Federation of Teachers, we know that labor solidarity in education is necessary to protect the future of accessible and high quality public education at all levels.  We particularly urge the students, staff, faculty, administration, and alumni of Tacoma’s colleges and universities (including Tacoma Community College, the University of Washington, Tacoma, the University of Puget Sound, Pacific Lutheran University, and the Evergreen State University, Tacoma) to support the TEA in any way that they can.

In solidarity,

The members of the UIUC Graduate Employees Organization

The Graduate Employees Organization, AFT/IFT Local 6300, AFL-CIO, The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, represents approximately 2,700 Teaching and Graduate Assistants on the UIUC Campus. In November 2009, over 1,000 GEO members successfully went on strike to secure a fair contract for graduate employees and a more accessible UIUC. The GEO continues to work for high quality and accessible public education in Illinois.  For more information, please contact GEO Communications Officer Rodrigo Pacheco-McEvoy at rodrigo.pacheco.mcevoy@gmail.com or geo@uigeo.org.

Read our related solidarity statement with the CMU Faculty Association after the jump.

Continue Reading

UIC GEO Calls Strike! Join us in Chicago on Tuesday!

Posted by odellcampbell on April 5, 2010
Posted in: Bargaining, Events, Labor Movement, News, Press Coverage, Take Action!, UIUC Coalitions. Tagged: , , , , , , , . Leave a Comment

As outlined in the following press release, the University of Illinois at Chicago Graduate Employees’ Organization has voted overwhelmingly to call a strike against the Board of Trustees at the University of Illinois.  Members of the UIUC GEO are taking a van of supporters up north on Tuesday, April 6, at 7 am – currently we have space for four additional members, and possibly more.  If you are interested in going up north to support our sisters and brothers in the UIC GEO and would like space in the van, you need to contact Amy Livingston at amy.l.livingston by 4 pm TODAY, Monday, April 5th.

Gina Gemmel
Phone: 773-413-0349
Email:  gmgemmel@gmail.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

GEO, UNION REPRESENTING 1400 TEACHERS AND RESEARCHERS AT UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS-CHICAGO, OVERWHELMINGLY VOTES TO STRIKE

Over the last two days, 84% of the Graduate Employees Organizations (GEO) members voted to call a strike against the University of Illinois Board of Trustees. GEO members will hold a rally on Monday, April 5, in support of their last scheduled federal mediation session with the UIC administration.

The GEO’s first agreement expired in August 2009, and GEO members have been negotiating a new contract since April 2009. After a year of negotiations, GEO members are on the verge of a strike because the UIC administration refuses to secure tuition waivers or address tuition differentials.

“All TAs and GAs currently receive a tuition waiver,” said Charles Moss, GEO President, “so the fact that the university wants the freedom to discontinue this benefit is unacceptable.”

Many GEO members earn less than $15,000 per year, but because of “Tuition Differential Fees,” imposed by UIC, pay up to $11,000 per year in fees back to the university. “We are being gouged by TD fees which increase every year without warning,” said Sarita Heer, Teaching Assistant in Art History. “All we want is to have input and know why these fees keep increasing. Isn’t it fair for UIC to tell us where our money is going?”

The GEO and the university will hold their final scheduled contract negotiation session with the help of a federal mediator on Monday, April 5, and will hold a rally outside Student Center East, 750 S. Halsted, Chicago, IL at 8:00 AM.

“So far, organizations at UIC representing more than 25,000 students and dozens of faculty have issued statements of support,” said Gina Gemmel, Teaching Assistant in English and GEO Communications Chair, “so we expect Monday’s rally to be massive, and we remain committed to reaching an agreement on Monday which includes tuition waiver security and gives us a say in Tuition Differential fees.”

The Graduate Employees Organization, AFT local 6297, AFL-CIO, is the labor union representing more than 1400 Teaching and Graduate Assistants at UIC who teach undergraduate classes, grade papers, work in offices, design websites, maintain databases, and perform other work crucial to the teaching and research missions of the university.

AFT On Campus covers the GEO strike

Posted by richpotter on January 27, 2010
Posted in: Bargaining, Press Coverage. Tagged: , . Leave a Comment

The article, titled “Tuition Waivers Protected in Illinois: Graduate employees stand up for essential provision”, can be found on page 2 of the current issue of AFT On Campus.

Also, an article and photo covering to the GEO’s pre-strike contract negotiations and demonstrations can be found on page 12 of the Nov/Dec issue, which is also available.