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News :: Labor |
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GEO Vote Count Is ... Slow |
Current rating: 0 |
by Peter Miller
(No verified email address) |
04 Dec 2002
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Two and a half hours after polls closed, the vote count has yet to begin. |
Two and a half hours after polls closed, the count has yet to begin for the union vote for the Graduate Employees Organization at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Currently, the parties are sorting out approximately 200 challenged ballots. These are mostly ballots cast by people not on the list of voters. Two board agents are sitting across the table from one representative from the GEO and one from the administration as they decide whether each challenged ballot should be included or excluded from the count.
If the employer and the union cannot agree on whether to include the ballot, it is set aside. Once each contested ballot has been looked at, the vote count begins. After counting the ballots, if the chalenged ballots couldn't change the result of the election, a final election outcome is announced--graduate employees either will or won't have union representation. If the challenged ballots could change the outcome, no outcome will be announced, since the board will need to rule on the validity of challenged ballots at a separate hearing.
Voting for the 2500-person bargaining unit of teaching assistants began Tuesday morning and continued through this evening. Polls closed at 7 p.m.
Forty observers, almost all supporters of the GEO, are waiting in the Colonial Room of the Illini Union, waiting for the true vote count to begin.
GEO supporters are guardedly optimistic about the outcome. Intensive get-out-the-vote activities yielded over 1000 grad employees willing to have their names printed on a list of union supporters which has been posted on bulletin boards across campus, encouraging people to turn out and vote for the GEO. The Illinois Federation of Teachers, the AFT, and graduate assistants from other GA unions (Michigan, Wisconsin, others?) are on campus to help with efforts to turn out voters.
Nonetheless, a recent unsuccessful union vote at Cornell University and an earlier loss for a GE union at the University of Minnesota linger n the minds of union supporters.
More info later. |
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GEO Vote Update |
by Loretta Gaffney
loretta (nospam) alexia.lis.uiuc.edu (unverified) |
Current rating: 0
04 Dec 2002
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Hi GEO faithful-
According to Steve Vaughan, Dave Kamper, and Peter Miller --At 10:40 p.m. the Labor Board is still counting votes. There was an estimated turnout of 1,700 out of 2500.
Labor Board officials placed GEO and "no representative" ballots on two
separate tables. According to GEo observers, the GEo pile was at least two and one half times as high as the "no rep" pile. Do the math yourselves..
cheers and solidarity, Loretta and Toby |
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GEO At Chicago Anxiously Awating Result |
by Aaron Berkowitz
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 0
04 Dec 2002
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Dear Urbana,
On behalf of the GEO at UIC, I want to say "hooray" at what appears to be good news. We wont be sleeping well tonight until we hear the final results.
In solidarity -
Aaron Berkowitz, UIC-GEO |
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The GEO Has Won |
by Joe Futrelle
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 0
04 Dec 2002
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By something like 1100 to 300.
Congratulations to the GEO folks for years of hard work.
Party!!! |
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GEO Wins 1188-347! |
by Daniel Lewart
aap (nospam) shout.net (verified) |
Current rating: 8
04 Dec 2002
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UIUC Graduate Employees voted to have GEO
represent them by 1188 (77%) to 347 (23%).
Results will become official in five days.
Go GEO!!! |
