FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: OVER 200 UIUC GRADUATE EMPLOYEES STAGE 8 AM RALLY FOR A FAIR CONTRACT AT U of I iHOTEL AND CONVENTION CENTER – GRADUATE EMPLOYEES’ ORGANIZATION TO HOLD STRIKE AUTHORIZATION VOTE NOVEMBER 4-6.
URBANA-CHAMPAIGN (October 26) – At 8 am on Monday, October 26, over 200 members of the Graduate Employees’ Organization (GEO) and their allies staged a rally in front of the iHotel and Convention Center, which is hosting the Illinois Association of Graduate School’s Conference on Graduate Education and the Economy. Carrying signs and shouting chants, GEO members marched one block from the Assembly Hall parking lot to the iHotel, where GEO members used speeches and performance art to send a clear message to the UIUC administration that the GEO is committed to not settling for anything less than a fair contract.
The GEO hopes that Monday’s rally will continue to put pressure on the UIUC administration’s bargaining team to move toward a fair contract at the negotiating table. On November 4-6, the GEO will hold a strike authorization vote. If the vote passes, it would also authorize the creation of a strike committee, which would then have authority to determine a strike plan and call a strike.
“We’ve seen some evidence in the bargaining room that the administration is recognizing how serious we are after our unanimous ‘intent to strike’ vote and other actions we’ve taken including work-ins informational tabling, but we still have a really long way to go” said Peter Campbell, GEO Communications Officer. “Our members have been working without a contract for 10 weeks now – we know that the money exists in the budget for a living wage, and the time to make progress at the bargaining table is now. Our bargaining team remains committed to negotiating a contract in good faith at the bargaining table, but unless we continue to see substantial movement from the administration in response to our attempts at compromise, our membership is seriously considering the possibility of a strike,” Campbell said.
Rich Potter, GEO Communications Committee member, addressed the particular issue of the UIUC budget at Monday’s rally, refuting arguments made by the UIUC administration that GEO contract demands are unrealistic given the economy. The administration’s argument is particularly untenable given that the GEO’s proposal to set the minimum salary for a 50%, nine month TA/GA appointment at the University’s own living wage figure of $16,086 would cost less than two tenths of one percent of the UIUC budget. “Teaching and Graduate Assistants teach 23.1% of all undergrad course hours at UIUC and are more often rated as ‘excellent’ by their students than faculty, but the administration wants to deny us a living wage,” said Peter Campbell, GEO Communications Officer. “We know from publicly available budget documents that the problem is not how much money there is in the budget, but where it is being spent. Instead of continuing to give substantial raises and severance packages to corrupt administrators, the UIUC administration should find a way to fairly compensate its lowest paid workers, including graduate employees and service workers, who do some of the University’s most important work,” Campbell said.
Potter based his arguments about the budget situation on some compelling evidence. Less than 20% of the University’s budget comes from State funding. Last year on the UIUC campus tuition was increased by $401 per semester, resulting in revenue growth of 14.5%. Investment income from the University’s endowment rose 5% last year and, as former President Joe White stated earlier this year, it has performed better than expected in our poor economy. The Daily Illini reported on August 19 that in FY 09 “the University brought in enough donations to experience one of the top five fundraising years in its 142-year history — all in spite of the economic downturn and the University admissions scandal.” The total represents “a 2.6% increase from FY 2008.” As for State funding, this year’s proposed budget includes a 1.1% increase in funding for public higher education. Federal stimulus money, meanwhile, will provide an additional $53.3 million dollars to our campus this year. The University’s current fiscal issues are clearly not due to a lack of resources. In fact, raising the minimum salary for TAs and GAs to a living wage would cost less than two-tenths of one percent of the campus budget. Clearly, the financial burdens faced by graduate employees are due less to budget shortfalls than to major shortcomings in the administration’s priorities.
The Graduate Employee’s Organization, American Federation of Teachers/Illinois Federation of Teachers Local 6300, AFL-CIO, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, is a labor union representing teaching and graduate assistants (TAs and GAs) on the UIUC campus. GEO members teach over 1/5, or 23.1%, of all undergraduate course hours at UIUC. The GEO has been in contract negotiations with the UIUC administration since April 21st, and is seeking a contract rooted in four ‘pillars:’ a living wage for all graduate employees, improved access to health care, working with the University to create a more family-friendly environment for graduate employee parents, and preserving the tuition waivers that allow graduate programs at UIUC to attract and retain the best graduate student employees available. The GEO believes that these proposals are not only reasonable, but necessary for a just and fair employment climate at UIUC. The University frequently speaks of the need for all employees and students of UIUC to work together to weather the budget crisis, and the GEO believes that its proposal represents a fair and good faith effort to do just that.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT: Peter Campbell, GEO Communications Officer, odell.campbell@gmail.com, 253-222-5861, or the GEO office at geo@uigeo.org, 217-344-8283.
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