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News :: Civil & Human Rights : Education : Labor |
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The Graduate Employees' Organization Needs Your Vote |
Current rating: 0 |
by ML
(No verified email address) |
22 Jul 2004
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The GEO, IFT/AFT Local 6300, recently concluded negotiations for its first contract after being recognized as the official bargainning agent for graduate employees at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. It is to every graduate employee's advantage to join the union. |
After more than a year of negotiations, the Graduate Employees' Organization and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have negotiated the first contract covering graduate employees. These lengthy negotiations followed the recognition of the GEO as the authorized representative of teaching and graduate assistants at the University.
Ironically, the University insisted on excluding a large number of graduate employees working as research assistants from the bargaining unit, while at the same time insisting that it wanted to keep wages and benefits equal for all graduate students. The University's negotiators often cited this somewhat contradictory principle to restrain financial demands by the union during negotiations, insisting whatever was negotiated would have to apply to all students. In an interview on WILL AM 580 after the agreement was reached, one of the University's representatives again reiterated this theme of equity in benefits.
In practice, the University's positions excluding large numbers of graduate employees from its job protections while insisting that the new contract's economic positions apply equally to all graduate students has two significant aspects. First, those graduate employees not recognized as part of the bargaining unit will likely not enjoy the same job protections, benefit of the contract's grievance procedures, non-discrimination protections, and other non-economic benefits, although they will receive all the economic benefits of the contract. Second, the equity principle that the University has adopted effectively means that the GEO is the bargaining agent for ALL graduate employees, whether or not they are part of the University-recognized bargaining unit.
Given these facts, graduate employees who have yet to join the GEO should give serious consideration to joining the union now. The GEO has made it a practice of allowing membership for any graduate employee, whether or not they are in the recognized bargaining unit. The odds are that most graduate students, at one time or another in their graduate work, will be a part of the recognized bargaining unit. While there is a great deal of variation between academic departments in how they utilize graduate students as workers, a person who is on fellowship or working as a research assistant one semester could easily find themselves working in a TAship or other job recognized as part of the bargaining unit the next semester. GEO feels it is vitally important that graduate employees have consistent input into how the union is run, who the officers are, and how the local deals with the university, regardless of their individual job duties. Thus, the GEO allows any graduate student who is willing to pay dues to join the union, whatever their current employment status with the University.
Currently, GEO members are paying $3.00 per month dues. However, having obtained the first contract, the substantial assistance that the GEO has received from the Illinois Federation of Teachers will now be directed to other locals more in need (such as the GEO local still negotiating their first contract with UI-Chicago). This means that dues will rise to make the GEO Local 6300 self-sustaining. A decision on what level to set dues will be made at the upcoming GEO General Membership meeting, to be held July 27 from 5-7pm at the University YMCA (1001 S. Wright Street).
An important part of the contract was the inclusion of "Fair Shareā€¯ as one of its provisions. This means that all those graduate employees recognized as part of the bargaining unit by the University will be required to pay dues, whether or not they are a GEO member. This does not apply at this time to GEO members who are not part of the University-recognized bargaining unit, who, for the time being at least, will continue to pay only the current $3.00 dues. In either case, it is now clearly in every graduate employee's interest to become a member of GEO so that they will have a vote and a voice in decision-making within the union, including how their dues are spent. More immediately, if you join the GEO now before the end of voting on the contract on August 2, you will also be able to vote on the contract itself.
The GEO has had strong and substantive support from a large number of graduate students, as well as the community in general. The contract itself is not perfect, but it offers substantial improvements in healthcare, as well as yearly raises, and provides extensive non-economic job security provisions that require the University to treat those covered under the contract fairly and equitably. We feel that the GEO has done a good job of representing not only its own members, but the interests of ALL graduate students, who stand to make substantial economic gains under the GEOā€™s contract.
Since the first year of the contract has already passed during the negotiations, it will only be a brief period before we are seated across the table from the University again to work on the next contract. Expanding the union to include input from the vast majority of graduate students will strengthen the union and allow the GEO to push for an even better next contract in the forthcoming negotiations. By joining the GEO now, you will give yourself a voice in the union, as well as strengthening our collective voice in representing all graduate employees.
Those who are already GEO members should have or will be receiving shortly paper ballots; you should have already received instructions on how to view the contract at the GEO website, www.uigeo.org, as well as instructions on how to vote by email. Remember that the deadline is August 2. And if you're not yet a GEO member, there is no better time to join up and make your voice heard by being able to be a voting member of the GEO. You can join now by dropping by the GEO office (384-8283) in the University Y on the second floor during office hours or be seeing a union steward or other GEO organizer in your department and signing a union card. |
See also:
http://www.uigeo.org
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NLRB strikes down grad student unions at private universities
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This work licensed under a
Creative Commons license. |
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Re: The Graduate Employees' Organization Needs Your Vote |
by JK
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 0
25 Jul 2004
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Here here, ML:
I concur with your comments, especially those that rightly characterize the gains that the GEO has won with widespread U of I and community support. I also agree that the GEO has striven to represent the interests and issues of those graduates covered indirectly by the contract, particularly the research assistants (RAs) and grading assistants (GAs) who may routinely float in and out of the bargaining unit.
Moreover, I think your characterization of the subtleties and vagaries defining the parameters of the bargaining unit are accurate and sensitive to the problems that grads have faced while organizing. Particularly regarding the job-security provisions of the contract, it is important to remember that the GEO has both the right and the obligation to represent all grads, especially on issues that could potentially affect TAs directly covered by the contract. It is fair to say that the GEO leadership has been sensitive to these dynamics, as many know.
GEO consistently promotes the interests of graduate student workers, who it is worth remembering spend nearly all of their time as grads working as teaching or research assistants. This union has done a tremendous job of reaching out to members and non-members alike to communicate the issues affecting graduate student-employees, and illustrating the perspicacity necessary to defend and advance the interests of grad. workers, and canvass the labor terrain that grad. employees face.
The GEO has daily received new applications for membership to GEO to vote on the contract, and to have a say in the future of the organization best suited to represent graduate student-employees. I suspect that this steady stream of new union members will continue.
Solidarity! |
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All Doubts Removed |
by ML
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 0
25 Jul 2004
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JK,
Thanks for your comments.
It is also good to see that the state legislature has removed any doubt about the legitimacy of the right of graduate employees to organize at Illinois' public schools. As reported on page A-4 of Sunday's News-Gazette, a bill to codify our rights has been sent to Governor Blagojevich to sign.
This counteracts any possibility that the University will go whining back (and spending taxpayer dollars) to the Illinois Labor Board to again oppose our right to organize. There were fears that the NLRB's recent Republican party-line decision to deny the right of graduate employees at private universities would somehow undermine our rights at public universiies in Illinois.
Now, our position is more secure than ever and, with a little luck, November's election will turn the present Republican grip on the NLRB into history, hopefully soon overturning their unfair, illegal (under international law), and invidious decision. I would expect the GEO to stand in solidarity with our brothers and sisters at private universities until they share the same rights we do. |
