Frequently Asked Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
By joining the union, you take control of your workplace—deciding together, democratically, what fair wages, benefits, and working conditions should look like. The more grad workers who join, the stronger we are: high membership density in our bargaining unit is the key to winning real improvements. A strong union means real power to demand what we deserve. Plus, it’s about solidarity—standing with your peers to create a more equitable university. When we fight together, we win together. Join to have a voice, to make change, and to be part of a collective that lifts everyone up. We have strength in numbers and power in unity.
Your department steward should have an up-to-date record of who is and is not a member of the union, so reach out to them if you haven't already! If you don't know your steward, email us at geo@uicgeo.org and we can let you know if we have a membership card on file for you.
Yes! If your meeting with a supervisor, department head, or administrator could involve discipline or affect your employment, you have the right to a union representative under Weingarten rights. Just request one in advance by emailing steering@uicgeo.org —we’re here to support you.
At the meeting, your union rep can advise you, ask clarifying questions, and ensure fair treatment. The supervisor cannot silence them or refuse their presence. Having a union rep helps protect your rights and ensures the process is transparent. If you’re unsure whether a meeting qualifies, reach out to us — we’ll help you navigate it. You don’t have to face it alone!
Contract violations can occur in all shapes and sizes! The first step to take is reviewing our contract to see what parts of it are being violated (the more violations we can identify, the stronger your case will be). It’s also important to reach out to your department's steward so we can start to investigate the prevalence of the violation; if you’re being mistreated, you are likely not alone. Identifying more people who have similar complaints will strengthen the grievance. The next step is gathering all possible information you find relevant to the case and sending it to the grievance chair at grievance@uicgeo.org; this can be in the form of written communication with colleagues or faculty, offer letters that were not upheld, retaliatory measures, etc. Read more about the rest of the grievance process here.
If the contract language is ambiguous or you would like assistance with determining if something is a contract violation, please reach out to the Grievance Chair grievance@uicgeo.org for help! Regardless of whether the contract is being violated or not, we want to know what’s going on, and we are ready to organize about it. We have your back. Email SC at steering@uicgeo.org with a brief description of what is going on, and we will reach out to you with next steps.
Dues allow GEO to maintain a strike fund, support our organizing efforts, pay for legal counsel, and cover office space expenses. A strike fund ensures that we can support any members who have wages withheld during a strike, and can support members targeted by this administration. Dues also pay for the costs of holding meetings and training members on how to organize effectively. We have also created a process for requesting union funds to support your organizing efforts in your department. Legal counsel assists us in holding the University to its legal obligations under Illinois law. Dues support all three main strategies for winning pay and protections–legal action, collective action, and direct action.
The vast majority of dues (63%) go to AFT-IFT, our parent union. They provide us access to organizing resources and reimburse us for most legal expenses. 10% of dues money has been approved by the Steering Committee to support organizing trainings, events, actions, and for merch like GEO t-shirts and pins. 3% goes to our office space, which we share with United Faculty. Another 3% covers the cost of legal fees (most of which are covered by our parent union) and organizational maintenance–things like accounting and insurance. The remaining 14% has not been allocated for this coming year–join the union and attend the next GMM to decide how your dues are spent!
Dues rates are set by members, and are calculated as a percentage of our pay. We work to keep dues as low as possible while maintaining a healthy strike fund and providing money to members to support their organizing efforts. Currently, dues are 2.2% of wages, down from 2.4% in previous years. If dues are the only thing preventing you from joining the union, please sign this petition to lower dues.