Bargaining Session #8 - Summary
At the first bargaining session of the Fall semester (and the eighth of the bargaining cycle), 323 GEO members broke the union’s all-time bargaining session turnout record, entirely decked out in GEO gear!
GEO’s Bargaining Team (BT) spent most of the session fiercely defending our economic proposal. GEO’s BT pointed out that the university has plenty of money. According to a financial analysis commissioned by GEO, UIUC has averaged a surplus of $222 million per year for the last 8 years. Pulling from the surplus, the administration can easily afford to fund the entirety of GEO’s economic proposal without cutting unit budgets or increasing tuition.
Waiving all fees for all 6500+ assistants would cost only 0.2% of the campus’s total 2026 budget.
Four GEO members shared moving testimonials about the inadequacy of Admin’s proposal. Addressing Admin’s economic proposal, members shared stories about spending their entire paychecks on rent, having to skip meals to get by, and being unable to afford to take their child to the doctor when they’re sick. The administration’s economic proposal falls short of Midwest inflation rates and, more importantly, does not respond to the financial hardship that graduate workers face. One member also addressed the importance of contractual protections for transgender grad workers, including coverage of gender affirming care and honoring preferred names. GEO is committed to negotiating a contract that supports financial wellbeing and protections for all graduate workers.
Ultimately, membership’s turnout, enthusiasm, and assertiveness translated directly to power at the table and led to a tentative agreement (TA) on three articles: Dues Deduction, Grievance Procedures, and Disciplinary Procedures.
The agreed-upon changes include an overhaul of the disciplinary procedure that aims to reduce stress for grad workers by requiring due process and increased transparency.
The results of session #8 shows that when we show up, we make movement toward a fair contract. Together, we have power!
What’s next?
Bargaining Session #9 will be Thursday, September 10, 9:00 am-1:00 pm, at the Levis Faculty Center, Room 300. Let’s keep it up, grad workers‼️
