FAQs

When graduate workers at UIUC first won collective bargaining rights through the GEO in 2000, Graduate Research Assistants were not allowed to unionize in the state of Illinois. A 2019 Illinois law removed this restriction. 

Additionally, over the past several years, many graduate worker unions that include RAs have won impressive victories, such as at the University of California system in 2023, and many more new unions have formed at institutions like MIT and the University of Iowa. A union authorization election for research assistants at the University of Illinois at Chicago won with unanimous support in February 2024.

Union membership is not disclosed to your supervisor. The GEO supplies the university administration with lists of members for the purpose of dues deduction, but individual supervisors are not informed of which employees are union members. 

More importantly, retaliation against employees for union membership is forbidden by state and federal law. If your supervisor breaks the law by retaliating against you, your unionized coworkers will swiftly intervene on your behalf.

The allocation of research funding, most of which is brought in by grants secured by individual faculty members, is untransparent and inequitable. By forming a union of research assistants across campus, we can demand change at the university level and win a fair deal for everyone involved in research at our institution. The people who are actually conducting research at this university should have a say in how funds are spent.

• RAs at the University of California earn 8 weeks paid parental leave or family care benefit at 100% pay, guaranteed by their union contract. 

• RAs at the University of Iowa fought to earn low premium health insurance, with the university paying 90% of single premiums & 70% of dependent premiums. 

• RAs at Duke University earn funds upfront or reimbursement for expenses of professional development and conferences.

• International student RAs at the University of Chicago earn $510 stipends to help cover visa fees.

• RAs at the University of Washington earn up to $5,000 per year to cover the costs of childcare.

• RAs at Rutgers University fought together for stronger protections against harassment.

• RAs at MIT have contractually guaranteed transitional funding to support graduate workers who switch advisors.

• RAs at the University of Wisconsin at Madison fought together with other campus workers to earn 12 weeks of paid family & medical leave guaranteed for all UW-Madison employees.

• RAs at Northwestern University earn 100% vision and dental coverage at no extra cost.

• RAs at the University of Michigan worked together with other graduate workers and community members to protect tenants in Ann Arbor with a campaign to change the local laws. 

Collective bargaining is a process, protected by state law, that equalizes the power relationship between employees and their employer.

Without collective bargaining, UIUC has unilateral power to change our working conditions. For example, the UIUC administration currently decides unilaterally whether to provide RAs with annual raises or not, and determines our workplace safety guidelines.

Through the process of collective bargaining, UIUC RAs will elect peer representatives to negotiate as equals with the UIUC administration. These negotiations result in a proposed contract called a tentative agreement. All GEO members will then be asked to vote to democratically approve the tentative agreement. If approved, the tentative agreement becomes a legally-binding contract. Through collective bargaining, other academic workers at UIUC (such as TAs, GAs, PGAs, non-tenured faculty, etc.) have successfully negotiated improvements in their wages, benefits, job security, leaves, protections against harassment and discrimination, and many other terms and conditions of their employment. 

When workers authorize a union, their employer becomes legally obligated to bargain with them in good faith over items like wages, healthcare, and leave. These negotiations conclude in the ratification of a collective bargaining agreement, which is a legally enforceable contract. If the university then violates your contractual rights, you can seek redress and compensation via a binding grievance procedure with the support of your union.

Union members decide democratically how dues are spent. Members vote each year to approve a budget at the first General Membership Meeting during the Fall semester. Union dues cover office and communication expenses, membership training, social and solidarity events, and a few paid staffers. Find a breakdown of our current budget here.

Typically, the value of increased salary and benefits greatly exceed the cost of dues. UIUC Teaching Assistants won a 25% raise in their most recent contract over 4 years. The story is similar at other unionized campuses. And it’s not just us! Research (done by RAs like us) shows that unionized workers make over 10% more on average than their non-union peers.