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Solidarity with GEO!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: GRADUATE EMPLOYEES’ ORGANIZATION (GEO) CONTRACT WITH THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN EXPIRED! RALLY FOR A FAIR CONTRACT ON AUGUST 16th, 2017, AT 12PM

Urbana-Champaign (August 15, 2017): The Graduate Employees’ Organization (GEO) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is holding a rally on August 16th on the main quad of campus. This rally is to demand a new contract for GEO as soon as possible, while criticizing the Administration’s approach to bargaining. As of August 15th, GEO’s current contract with the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has expired without a new contract being signed. The GEO took numerous proactive measures to push for a new, fair contract within a reasonable time frame, months before the August 15th expiration.

The GEO presented its full comprehensive contract proposal in March, provided data and narratives to justify its proposals, and gave forthright answers to the Administrations’ questions at every bargaining session. In return, the Administration has repeatedly stalled bargaining and put forth regressive proposals which would negatively impact graduate employees, particularly by reducing tuition waiver protection and not offering wage increases over time. Beginning in March, the GEO presented its comprehensive contract proposal to the Administration, based on four pillars voted on by membership: Wages, Tuition and Fee Waivers, Healthcare, and Access and Equality (which includes visa and immigration leave, childcare support for grad employee parents, expansion to the non-discrimination clause, and bereavement leave). Many members’ testimonials and the data the GEO’s bargaining team presented in negotiation sessions have demonstrated repeatedly that these are not only reasonable components for a fair contract, but that they are crucial to the livelihood, health, and productivity of graduate employees on this campus.

With the start of the fall semester approaching, the Administration has placed graduate employees in a precarious position with an uncertain future by willfully stalling labor negotiations--they are jeopardizing pay, healthcare, workplace safety, tuition waivers, access to resources, and other basic and necessary protections that graduate employees need and deserve as workers. Graduate employees are crucial to University operations, and the Administration’s actions at the bargaining table only weaken our campus and communities and negatively impact graduate employees’ living and working conditions.

If the Administration continues to stall, graduate employees will have no choice but to force them to bargain a fair contract by organizing GEO members, allies, community members, and other campus unions to disrupt campus operation in multiple coordinated protest actions. The GEO refuses to allow the Administration to diminish the rights of its members and destroy their ability to live and work as graduate employees and members of this university. The GEO asks that you stand in solidarity with this struggle and join the Rally For A Fair Contract, which will take place the day after GEO’s contract expires. The GEO will hold the rally in tandem with other campus labor unions to declare that “The University Only Works Because We Do”! All community members are invited to the rally on the main quad on Wednesday, August 16, from 12:00 to 1:00pm Central Time, to stand up for the rights of graduate workers and to demonstrate unity and power, while sending a message to the Administration to “work with us” at the bargaining table to secure a fair contract for all graduate employees. There will be multiple speakers from GEO, NTFC, SEIU, and AFSCME. Attendees are invited to wear a GEO shirt and bring a sign. From 11-11:45am, GEO members will be in the Courtyard Cafe of the Illini Union with materials to make signs and posters, and the rally will begin at noon.

The Graduate Employees Organization (GEO) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, AFT/IFT Local 6300, celebrated its 20th birthday on May 1, 2017. After several years of collective organizing, UIUC graduate employees voted to establish GEO as their official union representative in the spring of 1997. The University of Illinois refused to recognize the results of the election but years of organizing and civil disobedience, alongside a legal battle, culminated in an occupation of Swanlund Administration Building in 2002 and subsequent negotiations with University officials. The first contract was signed in 2003.

Since then, GEO has successfully bargained three additional contracts, secured tuition waiver protections, won improved wages and more affordable healthcare, established a grievance procedure to protect graduate employee rights, and much more. In GEO’s official twenty-year history, it has become famous among labor organizations nationwide for its strength and commitment to democratic principles, and a 2009 strike that brought more than 1,000 people to campus picket lines.

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 and more accessible UIUC. With an active presence in the community, the GEO continues to work for high-quality and accessible public education in Illinois.

For more information, please contact GEO’s Communications Officer at commcomm@uigeo.org. More information can also be found on GEO’s website at www.uigeo.org.

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Graduate Employees' Organization at UIUC

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I.F.T / A.F.T. Local 6300 AFL-CIO