Admin Responses to CLC Open Letter and Health Care Increase Call Out
GEO members,
The COVID-19 Pandemic continues to present a challenging time for graduate labor. The University has put enormous pressure on us by raising healthcare costs and leaving us without any protection. Moreover, many graduate students are finding themselves overworked and left with an unclear future while under enormous anxiety.
To challenge the Administration, the GEO and the CLC expressed their frustration and needs with the health care fee increase and the COVID-19 situation, respectively. The responses of the Administration are presented verbatim below.
These responses were only elicited through the actions of our membership and solidarity between our union and the others in the CLC. We are very grateful for the solidarity work that has been done in the past several weeks on this front and for the solidarity that has defined the GEO's existence throughout our history.
However, the Administration has made it clear through their words and actions that our work is not yet finished. There will be further opportunities to pressure the Admin to provide graduate workers and students the health care and crisis support we need and deserve:
Many of the GEO-specific needs in the CLC letter were not met. We are therefore writing a response to continue to fight for livelihoods. If you are interested in helping with this, please contact [someone?]
We will continue to call and email the Administration in regards to healthcare, especially for the summer. Keep an eye out for our next Call Out.
To strengthen ourselves against the Administration, we must reach out to UIUC faculty members and express the need for complete solidarity during the COVID-19 Pandemic.
If you feel passionately about these issues and would like to get involved, please contact the Work Action Group at uiucgeowat@gmail.com to help with ongoing work actions or suggest your own.
Campus Labor Coalition Open Letter Response
Dear Campus Labor Coalition:
Chancellor Jones has asked me to provide a more detailed response to your email of April 2, 2020. I am surprised and disappointed to hear that you perceive that many of the decisions have resulted in unfair and unsafe working conditions for university employees. The decisions the University has made and will continue to make have the shared aim of the economic, physical, and mental well-being of university employees.
GENERAL
1. Guarantee nondiscrimination in all policies to be enacted at the University so that no individuals or groups in our community are targeted (e.g. racial profiling), by forms of harmful discrimination that often come with public health emergencies.
Response: I appreciate your concerns in this area, because issues of discrimination are important to our University. We are fully committed to keeping discrimination from our community; as such, all policies issued by the University are intended to not discriminate. We are unaware of any instances of these policies leading to discrimination of protected classes. Please work with Illinois Human Resources, Office of Labor and Employee Relations regarding specific matters of concern so they can be addressed.
2. Immediately comply with the now-active Families First COVID-19. Doing so will provide immediate economic and risk relief to university employees.
Response: The University always complies with federal and state legislation and will do so with the provisions of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act. As this is a federal requirement, the implementation efforts are being coordinated with the University of Illinois System Human Resources Office. Several communications to administrators and employees have already been issued. In my capacity as Senior Associate Chancellor for Human Resources, I distributed information to union representatives on April 2, 2020, regarding the implementation of Families First Coronavirus Response Act.
PAID SICK LEAVE
3. Immediately grant paid sick leave to all university employees in accordance with the stipulations of the Families First COVID-19 Response Act. This leave should not count against any accrued unpaid time-off or paid time-off benefits.
Response: The University always complies with federal and state laws, and we will comply with the Families First Coronavirus Response Act. System Human Resources has developed information regarding the use of benefit time provided by the Act. Employees received information on April 3, 2020; this information can also be found online here: https://www.hr.uillinois.edu/leave/coronavirus_response_act.
4. Ensure that employees’ requests for time off are considered with utmost seriousness and entail no form of reprisal or compromise their possibilities for employment with the University in the future.
Response: Employees’ requests for time off are always considered with the utmost seriousness and are considered without reprisal or compromise to their possibilities for employment with the University in the future. If you are aware of a specific incident, we would expect you to bring that to the attention of Labor and Employees Relations so that we may address it.
WORKING CONDITIONS
5. Provide options for reduced workloads for those employees now facing increased child and family care needs, in accordance with the stipulations of the Families First COVID-19.
Response: Child and family care needs are now specifically addressed in the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, which we have implemented.
6. Immediately provide Hazard Pay--either in the form of pay raises or weekly sums--to those still working on campus.
Response: The University does not intend to pay hazard duty pay for employees still required to report to work. In the event that the employees’ work substantially changes, Illinois Human Resources will work with the employees’ exclusive representative to potentially modify compensation rates if appropriate.
7. Provide adequate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for all employees still working on campus.
Response: The University will provide appropriate equipment and take the necessary safety precautions for the work that is being performed.
8. Provide adequate equipment and resources to complete work under the work conditions mandated by the University and the State in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including: access to computers, software, high-speed internet connections, appropriate resources online, and other materials essential to workers’ job functions.
Response: It is our expectation that units will provide adequate equipment and resources to employees for them to complete their work. If you are aware of a specific incident, we would expect you to bring that to the attention of Labor and Employees Relations so that we may address it.
9. Communicate clearly and in a timely manner (a minimum of thirty days’ notice) any intent to layoff university employees.
Response: In the event the University considers a reduction in force, the University will provide appropriate notice to the individuals and unions potentially impacted.
HOUSING
10. Provide free summer housing options, i.e. at Orchard Downs, for international and other graduate employees who cannot return home for the foreseeable future and may not have legal employment options over the summer break.
Response: Individuals will continue to pay for housing services used. Individuals should contact Family and Graduate Housing within University Housing for their accommodation needs.
11. Provide free housing for anyone displaced from housing because of reductions or loss in employment with the University, for the duration of the pandemic.
Response: There are no plans to provide this benefit.
HEALTHCARE
12. Provide free testing for coronavirus to all University employees regardless of insurance status.
Response: Providing testing for individuals who are not showing symptoms is contrary to guidance from the Center for Disease Control. We will continue to work with local Public Health Officials to refer individuals for testing who meet the appropriate standards.
13. Waive fees for healthcare, dental care, and vision care to all employees through the summer period, including access to quality medical care and specialized/medical referrals for all regardless of the ability to pay. Ensure healthcare, dental care, and vision care for all employees.
Response: For employees covered under the State Employees Group Insurance Act, the University will follow the direction of the Department of Central Management Services.
14. Revoke immediately the recent decision to increase the costs of healthcare premiums for students in the 2020-2021 Academic Year.
Response: The decision to increase healthcare premiums for the 2020-2021 Academic Year was made irrespective of the COVID-19 situation. Fees are based on claims exposure and premiums charged by the student health insurance provider. Illinois Human Resources does not have the authority to supersede the Board of Trustee’s decision on fees.
IMMIGRATION STATUS
15. Ensure that international employees are able to maintain their visa status as courses transition online and hourly work is reduced and provide legal support for employees who face visa status changes during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Response: In general, International Student and Scholar Services is working to ensure international employees retain their visa status. However, many of these concerns are controlled by the Department of Labor and Department of Homeland Security. We are certainly doing everything in our power to ensure no visa problems happen because of COVID-19. International Student and Scholar Services does consult with an attorney, if needed. However, the University does not provide an attorney for those dealing with personal immigration issues.
Thank you and please contact the Labor and Employee Relations section of Illinois Human Resources if you have any further questions or concerns regarding these matters.
ELYNE G. COLE
Senior Associate Chancellor for Human Resources
Office of the Chancellor
Illinois Human Resources
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
52 E. Gregory Dr. | M/C 562
Champaign, IL 61820
217.333.3101 | e-cole1@illinois.edu
Response to Health Care Increase Call Out
Good Afternoon [Name],
President Killeen’s office has forwarded your email to me and has requested that I respond to your inquiry about student health insurance premium increases. Like you, the University is concerned about the cost of attendance and college affordability. We do not take health insurance premium increases lightly and work closely with United Healthcare, our insurance underwriter, to keep rate increases to a minimum. Unfortunately, FY21 rate increases are based on the claims experience during part of the current academic and previous years.
Below are the driving factors:
The current university student health insurance plan is losing approximately 5% per year due to undergraduate students opting-out to remain on their parent’s insurance plan. There has been a 20% drop in enrollment in the plan since FY 16 (year 1), equaling 2,500 fewer undergraduate students enrolled.
This progressive dropout rate from those who previously subsidized the plan has helped to drive a 100% increase (FY16-FY19) in the cost per beneficiary for those undergraduate students remaining in the plan and who use the insurance annually. Graduate students and their dependent rates have underlying year-on-year growth rates of 10%-20%, requiring a reliable subsidizing group for overall rate stabilization.
The percentage of insureds utilizing the insurance plan has gone from 35% (FY16) to 47% (FY19).
Like many typical student health insurance plans, approximately 40% of the paid claims, representing approximately 36% of the claimants, are in the following top five categories:
Digestive (up 13% year on year)
Mental (up 41%)
Maternity (up 13%)
Musculoskeletal (up 13%)
Respiratory (up 17%)
The Illinois Health Exchange does not offer a platinum tier plan like that offered to our graduate students, and the gold tier plan is 3.5 times more expensive than our undergraduate plan, despite a small decrease in cost for 2020.
Current university student health insurance rates are 4th lowest in the Big Ten. Even with a 34% increase in FY21 and every school maintaining their current rate in the Big Ten, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign will be ranked approximately #8, in the middle of the Big Ten institutions. In addition, we have been told other institutions will increase also their rates for FY21.
Please note that we will continue to work with United Healthcare to minimize rate increases. We are also developing strategies we can use to contain cost by better educating our students about benefits usage.
Regards,
Emily Greta
Assistant Director, Student Insurance
McKinley Health Center
1109 S. Lincoln Ave.
Urbana, IL 61801
Email: emilyes3@illinois.edu
In Solidarity,
Graduate Employees’ Organization
809 S. 5th St., Geneva Room
Champaign, IL 61820
Email: geo@uigeo.org