The Graduate Employees Organization is the labor union representing over 2,000 Teaching, Research, and Graduate Assistants at UIC. We are affiliated with the Illinois Federation of Teachers (IFT), the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), and the AFL-CIO.

As a labor union GEO has three main functions:

• Bargaining: We negotiate a contract with the university that governs TA, GA, and RA wages, workloads, benefits, and much more. You can review our current contract here. Please reach out to bargaining-comm@uicgeo.org if you have questions or suggestions for our bargaining committee. 

• Grievances: We represent TAs, GAs, and RAs in disputes with their employers and when their rights have been violated in the workplace. If you’re facing discipline, are being mistreated by your employer, or simply want to talk through something somewhat off about your employment, please reach out to grievance@uicgeo.org immediately.

• Organizing: In conjunction with bargaining and filing grievances, we build collective power to solve issues through direct action. We know we have to leverage our labor in order to get the reforms we want. This means finding a role for every single union member regardless of their experience or what issue they are organizing around. To get involved, reach out to our Chief Steward at chiefsteward@uicgeo.org. 

GEO is a democratic union. Its central leadership, the Steering Committee, is composed of volunteer grad workers elected from the membership each year. The Steering Committee handles all of the day-to-day operations and decision-making of the union. They are supported by the Stewards Council, a body of representatives from the various departments on campus, and a collection of committees all composed of grad worker volunteers.

GEO is its members; your input is not only welcome, it is necessary to our mission. Email us at geo@uicgeo.org to get involved!