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All Out to Access and Equality Rally Tomorrow, August 16, 8:45 am!

Posted by odellcampbell on August 15, 2012
Posted in: Access and Equality, Bargaining, Events, Labor Movement, News, Take Action!, UIUC Coalitions. Tagged: , , , , , . Leave a Comment

GEO Members and Campus and C-U Activists,

The GEO Rally for Access and Equality tomorrow morning–8/16, 8:45 am, Levis Faculty Center–is our most important event so far in bargaining.  Our contract with the University expires today, but the administration team continues to stall in the room.

A big turnout at the rally will set the stage for our negotiations as we enter the new school year: 

It will send a clear message to the admin team that as more of our members return to campus, we demand movement and fair negotiations in the bargaining room: we don’t accept the administration’s refusal to agree to reasonable, no cost contract proposals unless the GEO agrees to major financial concessions in exchange. 

It will send a clear message to the admin team that when we ask for contract language that protects working parents, GLBTQ people, people of color, international students, and immigrants in our bargaining unit, we don’t accept their proposals to put a price on the rights and safety of our members.

It will provide vital support for our bargaining team as they demand, for the first time in GEO history, that the rights and protections in our contract be made available to all UIUC TAs and GAs, no matter who we are or how we love.

It will show that we as a union, a campus, and a community back the bargaining team in all of our four pillars–Access & Equality, Health Care, a Living Wage, and Tuition waivers–and that we won’t back down until we’ve won a fair and just contract for all members of our bargaining unit.   

See you tomorrow morning–until we win! 

–GEO Communications Committee, Access and Equality Caucus, and Bargaining Team

FOR MORE INFORMATION on negotiations or on what the bargaining team will be negotiating tomorrow, please see our post below.  For GEO members, more specific contract information is also available in the two previous GEO-Ls.  You can email geo@uigeo.org or visit our facebook page for more information and updates.  You can view and download the flyer for tomorrow’s rally by right clicking on the image below.  Finally, check out the flyer for the first meeting (yay) of the GEO Access and Equality Caucus here.



  

Administration puts price tag on basic contract rights: rally for Access and Equality August 16!

Posted by odellcampbell on August 3, 2012
Posted in: Bargaining, Grievances, Labor Movement, Resources, Take Action!, UIUC Coalitions. Tagged: , , , , , . 1 comment

RALLY TO SUPPORT THE BARGAINING TEAM’S STRUGGLE TO ENSURE ACCESS TO CONTRACT PROTECTIONS FOR ALL BARGAINING UNIT MEMBERS:

LEVIS FACULTY CENTER, 8:45 AM, THURSDAY, AUGUST 16, 2012: BARGAINING SESSION STARTS AT 9:00

Yesterday, the GEO bargaining team proposed two tentative agreements (TAs): the first on accommodations for nursing mothers (to help bring University units in compliance with state law); the second on improving our grievance procedure by better protecting grad employees who are subject to discrimination or harassment at the hands of their immediate supervisor.

These TA proposals were almost identical to language that the administration proposed just last week.* The admin team has consistently objected to our proposals for basic accommodations and support for working parents, so our bargaining team attempted to achieve movement at the bargaining table by proposing TAs on other issues that both the GEO and the admin basically agree on.  But today, the administration team refused to sign mutually agreeable language on nursing mothers and grievances unless the GEO entirely drops our proposal for a Child Care Subsidy to support graduate employee parents.

The administration is stalling negotiations by putting a price tag on basic rights of access and protection for parents, women, and minority employees in the bargaining unit.

At the next bargaining session on August 16, our Bargaining Team will demand the administration respond to our specific proposals and push for historic contract language that would significantly increase recognition and access for LGBTQ persons and relationships, protect international and immigrant graduate employees, and work toward a safe and accessible workplace for queer, graduate students of color, and working parents in our bargaining unit.

The GEO Access and Equality Caucus will be staging a major rally in support of the Bargaining Team on August 16 at 8:45 am outside the Levis Faculty Center.  The more of us GEO members that attend the rally, the more we will show the admin bargaining team that our union is serious about demanding a just contract for all members of the bargaining unit.

All GEO members are encouraged to attend the bargaining session immediately following the rally: let’s pack the room!  

Our last round of contract negotiations ended in one of only five strikes involving at least 1,000 workers in the United States in 2009 partly because the administration team refused to respond to specific GEO proposals unless our team agreed to blanket “package deals” that would have forced the union to give up major concessions while receiving almost nothing in return.

Let’s demand an end to these 2009 stall tactics on August 16!

Solidarity!

*GEO members: see the GEO-L today (8/3) for more information on the bargaining team’s proposed TA language

Lend Your Support to Our Fellow Graduate Employees @ SIU!

Posted by odellcampbell on November 1, 2011
Posted in: Bargaining, Current Issues, Higher Ed Unions, Labor Movement, News, Resources, Take Action!, UIUC Coalitions. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . Leave a Comment

The 1,750 graduate employees, represented by Graduate Assistants United (GAU), at Southern Illinois University Carbondale have now been working without a contract for more than 480 days. They are joined by tenured and tenure-track, civil service employees and non-tenured faculty – together making up 3,500 unionized employees on the SIUC campus.

This past Monday members of GAU voted to set a strike deadline. If no agreement has been reached by 12:01 AM November 3rd, union members will walk off the job, commencing one of the largest higher education strikes in history.

Their demands are simple: a contract that guarantees quality, affordable health care to graduate employees, the option to buy coverage for spouses and children, and an end to skyrocketing fees, which have doubled over the past 5 years. Faculty are fighting to preserve tenure (the administration wants the right to lay offtenured faculty due to financial reasons) and civil service employees and those non-tenured faculty are fighting layoffs and furloughs.

It’s not too late to help our fellow graduate employees in Southern Illinois. You can email or call the SIUC administration to settle these contracts today! Help keep grads and faculty in the classrooms and offices and off the picket lines!

Ms. Misty Whittington
Executive Secretary of the Board
Office of the Southern Illinois University Board of Trustees
(618) 536-3357

Rita Cheng: rcheng@siu.edu
SIUC Chancellor
(618) 453-2341

Glenn Poshard: poshard@siu.edu
SIU President
(618) 536-3357

GEO Calls on Members to Participate in AFL-CIO America Wants to Work Week: Occupy C-U Rally 10/15 at Westside Park

Posted by odellcampbell on October 13, 2011
Posted in: Activities, Current Issues, Events, Labor Movement, News, Take Action!, UIUC Coalitions. Tagged: , , , , , . 1 comment

The members of the Graduate Employees Organization, Illinois Federation of Teachers Local 6300, AFL-CIO, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, enthusiastically endorse the America Wants to Work National Week of Action sponsored by our parent organization, the AFL-CIO.

We stand in solidarity with the National Week of Action in two ways: first, as we enter a bargaining year, our daily, weekly, and monthly organizing efforts share the common goal of increasing access to high quality graduate employment opportunities at a major public University in the United States.  In particular, our organizing efforts around increasing union membership, securing full tuition waivers for graduate employees, and insisting on fair wages and benefits have the goal of making graduate research and employment accessible to minority and working class students in the United States and Illinois.

Second, as we organize around our membership and our contract, our members continue to participate in solidarity actions with local, state, and national unions around the country.  Specifically, we endorse all actions in Champaign-Urbana connected with the AFL-CIO National Week of Action, including the Occupy C-U rally in Champaign on October 15.  We encourage our members to join other local unions and activists to demonstrate for the right of all working people to have access to good jobs.

Check out the Facebook Event page for Occupy CU (10/15) here: https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=302100619806388

GEO STATEMENT IN SUPPORT OF SEIU LOCAL 73, UIUC

Posted by odellcampbell on April 14, 2011
Posted in: Bargaining, Events, Labor Movement, News, Take Action!, UIUC Coalitions. Tagged: , , , , , , . 1 comment

To: the members of the Service Employees International Union, Local 73, at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

From: The Members of the Graduate Employees Organization, Illinois Federation of Teachers/American Federation of Teachers, Local 6300 (GEO)

We, the members of the Graduate Employees Organization, Illinois Federation of Teachers/American Federation of Teachers, Local 6300 (GEO), stand in solidarity with our sisters and brothers of the Service Employees International Union, Local 73, at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (SEIU Local 73), in their struggle for a good contract.

SEIU Local 73 is asking for wage increases tied to inflation, and is trying to maintain staffing levels of full-time, permanent employees.

The Administration, claiming a difficult financial situation, wants to freeze wages, and eliminate permanent food service and facilities employees, replacing them with temporary workers or outside contractors. At the same time, the University is planning to raise students’ tuition by nearly 7% in Fall–an increase that will, if the recent past is any indication, go to funding a bloated administration.

The UIUC Administration is asking workers and students to share the sacrifice, while administrators get raises.

The GEO stands with SEIU Local 73, and calls on the UIUC negotiating team to stop the months of stalling and agree to the SEIU’s contract proposals.
We call on the University system and State of Illinois to settle their back payments issues, and fully fund education in the state of Illinois.
We say it is time for the spending priorities of the University to reflect its founding mission — “Learning and Labor” — rather than its recent unofficial attitude to its employees of “Learning to Labor for Less.”

If the UIUC Negotiating team does not bargain with SEIU Local 73, and forces SEIU Local 73 to take strike action on April 18, as the members of SEIU Local 73 have indicated they are willing to do, the members of the GEO will support the sisters and brothers of SEIU Local 73, just as members of SEIU Local 73 supported us during our strike in 2009. The GEO does not support a wildcat strike or withholding labor in any way, but GEO members will join the SEIU picket lines in solidarity in their free time.

The members of SEIU Local 73 are fighting for the future of public employees in the state of Illinois, just as hundreds of thousands did in Wisconsin earlier this year.

As GEO members stands with public employees in Wisconsin and elsewhere, we stand in solidarity with our fellow public employees here at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

In Solidarity,
The Members of the GEO

The 24/7 Solidarity Vigil Continues Thursday 2/24! See the schedule below and join us when you can.

Posted by odellcampbell on February 23, 2011
Posted in: Activities, Current Issues, Events, Labor Movement, News, Resources, Take Action!, UIUC Coalitions. Tagged: , , , , , , . Leave a Comment

IMPORTANT UPDATE: The solidarity vigil will temporarily be relocated to the *Illini Union* from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm tomorrow (Thursday, February 24).

9 a.m.- 2 p.m.  Illini Union: Solidarity Teach-In, Grade-In, Meet-In, Drink-Coffee-In

Show your solidarity with workers in Madison and throughout the Midwest.

12 noon – 12:50 p.m. Publics, Unions, Movements: discussion with Monica Bielski Boris of the Labor Education Program

University YMCA, 1001 S. Wright St., Champaign, Lower Level

(SEIU supporters can head for FAR/PAR before the 1pm picket).

Join YMCA vigil participants and community members for a discussion on the legal, social and regional dimensions of unions and union building. Have questions about collective bargaining, public resources, or solidarity tools—-then this is the place for you and your allies. Professor Monica Bielski Boris (http://www.ler.illinois.edu/faculty/fp_bielski.html), from the School of Labor and Employment Relations, will introduce a series of topics and questions, including…

* What are public sector unions? How and why do they differ from state to state?

* What competing myths and realities are at work in labor and opposition movements ?

* How are organizing tactics nurtured and altered?

* What types of political strategies are either at work or stifled in the Midwest?

* What is the state of labor and social movement education on our campus and in our communities?

1-2 p.m. SEIU Picket at the FAR (Florida Avenue Residence Hall)

On College Court near the intersection of Lincoln and Florida Residence Hall —support SEIU in their contract struggle, practice your chanting, and support workers’ rights right here in Champaign-Urbana

7 p.m., Patricio Guzman’s sterling, epic documentary The Battle of Chile, parts 1 (“The Insurrection of the Bourgeoisie”, 96 minutes) and 2 (“The Coup D’Etat”, 88 minutes)

Covering workers, politics in Chile, and events leading to the coup of Salvator Allende in 1973.    We will have the opportunity to think about workers’ protests in an international context, both historically and in our present moment.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS UC UNITED COALITION STAGES 300 PERSON MARCH AND RALLY FOR MARCH 4TH NATIONAL DAY OF ACTION TO DEFEND PUBLIC EDUCATION

Posted by odellcampbell on March 4, 2010
Posted in: Current Issues, Events, Labor Movement, News, Press Coverage, Take Action!, UIUC Coalitions. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a Comment

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS UC UNITED COALITION STAGES 300 PERSON MARCH AND RALLY FOR MARCH 4TH NATIONAL DAY OF ACTION TO DEFEND PUBLIC EDUCATION
UC United Coalition challenges University of Illinois administration to follow example of Southern Illinois University in freezing tuition

URBANA-CHAMPAIGN (March 4) – On March 4, 2010, over 300 members of the UC United Coalition of students, workers, and faculty staged a march and rally for an accessible, diverse, and democratic University of Illinois of Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) on the UIUC campus as part of the March 4th National Day of Action to Defend Public Education.  Rally participants marched from the campus’ Alma Mater statue and around the entire Liberal Arts and Sciences Quad before staging a rally in front of the Swanlund Administration Building.

State funding for public education has been decreasing for years, and the University of Illinois administration has consistently accepted budget cuts as it transforms the University into a privatized and corporatized institution.  The UC United Coalition will be present at the April 21st lobbying day in Springfield, and we call on the University of Illinois administration to join us in not only pleading with the state to avoid further cuts, but in demanding that public education be recognized as vital for the future prosperity of the state and funded accordingly.

The major burden of the lack of state funding has been placed on low income workers and students, rather than on bloated administrative units and salaries.  Speakers at the rally called for a tuition and fee freeze in the face of University of Illinois Interim President Ikenberry’s recent statements that significant tuition increases, layoffs and furloughs are inevitable and necessary responses to the shortfall in Illinois state funding for the University.

The planned tuition increase will functionally transform the University of Illinois into a private institution that funds almost all of its instruction and research through tuition.  This is completely contrary to the mission of the University as a public, land grant institution.

Without direct action in support of public education, higher education in the state of Illinois will be available only to the wealthy.  As Susan Davis, CFA Executive Committee member and Professor in the Department of Communication said, the University of Illinois administration’s policy “places the burden of the current budget shortfall on personnel and students.”

The University of Illinois administration’s claim that tuition increases, layoffs, and furloughs are a necessary response to the state budget shortfall is especially disappointing given that President Glenn Poshard of Southern Illinois University (SIU) has pledged that SIU will not increase tuition.  SIU will instead explore other options to weather the shortfall including borrowing and drawing on University reserves.  President Poshard told Codell Rodriguez of The Southern on March 4 that “financial troubles have been on the backs of middle to low income families for too long.”

UC United Coalition members agree. Because Illinois citizens, students and low paid workers are suffering the most from the current economy, “it doesn’t make sense for the state to pull out of funding for higher education, and for the University to hike tuition and fees,” said Mukta Tripathy, Graduate Employees’ Organization Officer-at-Large.

Southern Illinois University faces an even more serious budget shortfall than the University of Illinois, as it receives a much higher percentage of its overall funding from the state.  The UC United Coalition applauds President Ikenberry’s public opposition to state budget cuts and his efforts to mobilize alumni lobbying campaigns.  However, these efforts are negated by the UI administration’s policies in response to existing cuts.  Speaking at the rally, UC United Coalition and GEO representative Peter Campbell called on President Ikenberry to follow the leadership of President Poshard and refuse to solve Illinois’ budget problems on the backs of those people who are hardest hit by the recession.

The UC United Coalition demands transparency and accountability in budget decisions so that the University of Illinois administration can work with the campus community to find creative ways to address the budget shortfall.  We reject the claim that there is no possibility of drawing on non-state revenue sources in the UI budget to fund instruction and personnel. For more information, please see the Graduate Employees’ Organization fact sheet “Myths and Facts about the University of Illinois Budget” attached to this release, which can also be downloaded at http://www.uigeo.org/2010/03/03/geo-disputes-administration-budget-claims-releases-ui-budget-myths-and-facts-document/.

The UC United Coalition includes the Graduate Employees’ Organization (AFT/IFT Local 6300, AFL-CIO), the Campus Labor Coalition, the Undergrad-Graduate Alliance, the Campus Faculty Association, La Colectiva, and the Lambda Theta Alpha Latin Sorority.  UC United demands that the University of Illinois (UI) administration center the priorities of the University of Illinois around access, diversity, democracy, and quality.  Specifically, UC United calls for a tuition and fee freeze, an end to layoffs and furloughs of workers and faculty, a democratic campus with shared governance in policy decisions, the recruitment and retention of a diverse campus population of workers, students, and faculty that is truly representative of the State of Illinois, and transparency about the UI budget.  The UC United Coalition also calls for progressive state and federal funding for all levels of public education.

For more information about the UC United Coalition, the March 4 rally, and other upcoming events, please visit our event page at uicrisis.org and/or contact any of the following representatives: Peter Campbell, GEO Communications Officer, 253-222-5861, odell.campbell@gmail.com, uigeo.org; Harriet Murav, Campus Faculty Association, 217-359-5394, and Jim Barret, Campus Faculty Association, 217-352-2714; Pete Rhomberg, Undergraduate-Graduate Alliance, (708) 828-9926, rhomberger3000@gmail.com.

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GEO Call to Action on March 4

Posted by odellcampbell on March 2, 2010
Posted in: Current Issues, Events, Labor Movement, News, Resources, Take Action!, UIUC Coalitions. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . 1 comment

RALLY: March 4, 2010 – assemble at Alma Mater at noon, march at 12:15, rally in front of Swanlund 12:30-12:50.  Electronic versions of flyers and posters can be downloaded here.  RSVP here, and see the event website here.  A copy of the UC United Press release announcing the rally is available on this post after the jump.

Please join us for the UC United Coalition’s March 4th Rally for the Future of an Accessible, Diverse, and Democratic UIUC.  The UIUC rally will be part of the March 4th National Day of Action to Defend Public Education (read the national calls).  The GEO has officially endorsed the March 4th Day of Action, and we call on all GEO members to participate.

The UC United Coalition, which includes the GEO, the Campus Labor Coalition, the Campus Faculty Association, the Undergraduate-Graduate Alliance, La Colectiva, and the Lambda Theta Alpha Latin Sorority, demands a UIUC truly committed to access, diversity, democracy, and quality, and that the U of I administration stop pushing the burden of the budget shortfall down to workers and students.

While we worked incredibly hard last semester to win a contract that is already working to protect our members through the grievance process, the University administration is still moving toward a privatized future for UIUC that includes fewer graduate employees, larger class sizes, and less flexibility for graduate appointments. Campus units and departments are being forced to plan for drastic cuts that will significantly impact graduate employees, despite the fact that an independent audit from the American Association of University Professionals claims that the U of I financial situation is “strong,” and that these measures are in no way required by the current shortfall in state funding.  Download a flyer summarizing the audit here.

We know more than anyone on campus that only through direct action can we continue to take back control of the direction of our University.  Many of the members of the UC United Coalition walked with us on the lines – now their jobs and livelihoods are being threatened by irresponsible and non-transparent decisions by the UI administration – so let’s walk with them!

We worked long and hard to win an historic contract.  Now let’s build on those gains – starting on March 4th!

UC United press release announcing the rally:

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