GEO and the university returned to the table Friday, February 27th for our 21st bargaining session. After the final details regarding requesting mediation were ironed out, several proposals were exchanged.
GEO passed back:
Appointment Terms, were we again demanded waivers for all fees for all members of the bargaining unit. Other major changes in this article are 12 month appointments so grad workers can feel less semester-to-semester precarity and job instability. We also asked for a minimum .5 FTE appointment unless a decrease is requested to prevent UIC from simply lowering our appointment in response to a wage increase.
Health Insurance, where we demand complete coverage of CampusCare, as well as a private insurance option that would be much easier to use outside of the UI Health system, though like other employer-provided health insurance plans, this would have an additional cost.
And following up on the issue from the previous bargaining session, Wages, where we clarified our ask of $55,000 was intended to be a step down from our previous ask of $60k annually.
The University's bargaining team passed:
Hours of Work, where they rejected our attempts to prevent overwork. After much discussion, with our side trying to clarify how much TAs actually have to work, they refused to agree to standards for FTE for instructors of record, nor did they provide any solutions in the case of overwork for the instructor and poor learning conditions for students.
Evaluation, where they rejected attempts to protect workers by granting an alternate evaluator if there were interpersonal conflict or ideological difference.
GEO has now returned our major economic demands after the insulting response to our initial proposals. We hope we will not have to wait another 70 days for a response. We hope that a mediator at the next session will help us move towards a fairer future for those we represent.
Make sure to stay updated on when the next bargaining session will be by checking the weekly bulletin on Mondays, and looking at our event calendar!
See you at the next session,
Your Contract Bargaining Committee
bargaining-comm@uicgeo.org