Sanskriti Prakriti Posted February 12, 2018 Share Posted February 12, 2018 Hello, fellow Grad Cafe users! As a current student at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, I wanted to alert you to a situation that is going on here and has been ongoing for over a year. I posted this in "The Bank" because I feel that it is directly related to issues of funding, but if an admin would like to move the topic, feel free. So, currently, the Graduate Employees Organization (GEO) at UIUC is planning to go on strike as of February 26th. The GEO bargaining team has been working with the University on a new labor contract since last January or February, because our last contract expired in August 2017. Clearly, things have not been going smoothly, as UIUC's TAs and GAs have now been working without a contract for over 175 days now. Issues at stake include livable stipend wages, the timely sending out of appointment letters (which are frequently sent out less than a month before the start of term), transparency regarding the spending of student fees, and health care coverage. The most important issue lately has been that of tuition waivers. Administrators are trying to include language in the contract that would allow them someday to turn tuition waiver-granting appointments and departments into non-tuition waiver-granting entities, which would jeopardize the ability of future students to get tuition waivers. More information can be found here http://www.uigeo.org/ and here http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-met-university-of-illinois-grad-students-strike-20180208-story.html. I would also recommend the GEO's Facebook page as a resource. I post this so that those of you who are considering the University of Illinois can do so with as much relevant information as possible. Rthusia, JoshLeon, hats and 2 others 3 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoshLeon Posted February 12, 2018 Share Posted February 12, 2018 I have some questions. I was offered a tuition waiver for this upcoming academic year, and they say its renewable if I have satisfactory performance. Does this mean I wouldn't be affected by the elimination of tuition waivers? Or could I still be affected by it, despite them saying it's renewable? The other question I have is, do you know if the students in the engineering department have also been without a contract? Thanks, theprincessleia 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sanskriti Prakriti Posted February 13, 2018 Author Share Posted February 13, 2018 1 hour ago, JoshLeon said: do you know if the students in the engineering department have also been without a contract? Basically, any student who is either a Teaching Assistant or a Graduate Assistant is without a contract at the moment, so that would include any engineering TAs. Research assistants, however, do not have union representation, so they are in a different boat. I will have to do a little research before I can answer your first question. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E-P Posted February 13, 2018 Share Posted February 13, 2018 Thank you, @Sanskriti Prakriti! Do you have a sense for what will happen if the strike happens? Like, would classes continue, or be cancelled? Does the union continue to pay your stipend and insurance costs? I'm just curious about the logistics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitmanifesto Posted February 13, 2018 Share Posted February 13, 2018 Is this dispute also including the Chicago campus? That campus has been successful in increasing their stipends recently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sanskriti Prakriti Posted February 15, 2018 Author Share Posted February 15, 2018 On 2/13/2018 at 4:13 PM, E-P said: Do you have a sense for what will happen if the strike happens? Like, would classes continue, or be cancelled? Does the union continue to pay your stipend and insurance costs? I'm just curious about the logistics. Good questions! The goal of the strike will be to disrupt everything that's going on at the university. So, (many) TAs and GAs will cease to do their paid labor and will picket outside major buildings instead. The union is encouraging instructors to cancel classes in solidarity and to not enter any campus building for any reason. As for payment, we'll only be docked pay if our home departments report us to the administration. The people who get reported will (I think) be paid through a union strike fund. (Link here: https://www.gofundme.com/uiuc-geo-strike-fund) E-P 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sanskriti Prakriti Posted February 15, 2018 Author Share Posted February 15, 2018 On 2/13/2018 at 4:37 PM, whitmanifesto said: Is this dispute also including the Chicago campus? That campus has been successful in increasing their stipends recently. I'm pretty sure that the unions at each campus are separate, since each campus also has different administrators and policies. The whole system sure would have a mess on its hands if grad employees were striking at multiple locations! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emjayco Posted February 15, 2018 Share Posted February 15, 2018 (edited) 22 hours ago, Sanskriti Prakriti said: I'm pretty sure that the unions at each campus are separate, since each campus also has different administrators and policies. The whole system sure would have a mess on its hands if grad employees were striking at multiple locations! Wow. Thank you so much for this information. I will likely be attending the Chicago campus and this obviously would be a big concern. I knew Illinois' government really struggles to pass budgets, etc. but I was not aware of how much it was affecting the schools. Thank you! Edited February 15, 2018 by emjayco Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sanskriti Prakriti Posted February 16, 2018 Author Share Posted February 16, 2018 22 hours ago, emjayco said: Wow. Thank you so much for this information. I will likely be attending the Chicago campus and this obviously would be a big concern. I knew Illinois' government really struggles to pass budgets, etc. but I was not aware of how much it was affecting the schools. Thank you! Just in case you're going to be a TA or GA and want to learn more, here is UIC's Graduate Employees Organization (GEO) page: http://uic-geo.net/mainsite/ hats and emjayco 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sanskriti Prakriti Posted February 26, 2018 Author Share Posted February 26, 2018 Just so everyone knows, the UIUC strike is on TODAY! Let's hope for a fair contract soon! emjayco, TakeruK, TK2 and 1 other 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TakeruK Posted February 26, 2018 Share Posted February 26, 2018 56 minutes ago, Sanskriti Prakriti said: Just so everyone knows, the UIUC strike is on TODAY! Let's hope for a fair contract soon! Solidarity! Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sanskriti Prakriti Posted February 27, 2018 Author Share Posted February 27, 2018 On 2/26/2018 at 12:00 PM, TakeruK said: Solidarity! Good luck. Thank you! I think we're rocking it so far! emjayco 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweetpearl16 Posted March 2, 2018 Share Posted March 2, 2018 Just an update for those who are interested. The strike is still continuing, making it now the longest strike in the University of Illinois history. The picket lines are still going strong. The University has not reached out to us indicating that their position on tuition waivers has changed and they are willing to bargain with us in good faith. emjayco and Sanskriti Prakriti 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emjayco Posted March 2, 2018 Share Posted March 2, 2018 2 hours ago, sweetpearl16 said: Just an update for those who are interested. The strike is still continuing, making it now the longest strike in the University of Illinois history. The picket lines are still going strong. The University has not reached out to us indicating that their position on tuition waivers has changed and they are willing to bargain with us in good faith. Sorry to hear the feeling of lack of communication or flexibility, but glad to hear it is still going strong! Keep up the good work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sanskriti Prakriti Posted March 4, 2018 Author Share Posted March 4, 2018 Latest update: The union and admin bargaining teams began a bargaining session at noon (central time) today. I'm assuming they are still at it as I type this. If we have no contract and no vote to end the strike tonight, then the strike will continue into tomorrow. amayadoli 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amayadoli Posted March 7, 2018 Share Posted March 7, 2018 On 2018/3/4 at 5:12 PM, Sanskriti Prakriti said: Latest update: The union and admin bargaining teams began a bargaining session at noon (central time) today. I'm assuming they are still at it as I type this. If we have no contract and no vote to end the strike tonight, then the strike will continue into tomorrow. Solidarity from Ohio! Sanskriti Prakriti and emjayco 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sanskriti Prakriti Posted March 7, 2018 Author Share Posted March 7, 2018 5 hours ago, amayadoli said: Solidarity from Ohio! Thank you so much! Update: Bargaining has been going on all day today. I don't know when we'll have a real update. However, I thought you'd all like to know that a contingent of grad employees and faculty are currently occupying the hallways outside UIUC's President's and Chancellor's offices. They have set up camp and will stay there until a fair agreement is reached! TK2, wheresmysnow and emjayco 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theprincessleia Posted March 9, 2018 Share Posted March 9, 2018 On 2/12/2018 at 7:26 PM, Sanskriti Prakriti said: Basically, any student who is either a Teaching Assistant or a Graduate Assistant is without a contract at the moment, so that would include any engineering TAs. Research assistants, however, do not have union representation, so they are in a different boat. I will have to do a little research before I can answer your first question. I'm also in the same boat. UIUC is my top choice at the moment and I was offered admission with an award with the combo of a tuition waiver and fellowship/TA/RA guaranteed for 4 years subject to satisfactory progress. Not sure if I could still be affected by the elimination of tuition waivers.. Side note: If you don't mind me asking, how are students currently managing their finances with all of this going on? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E-P Posted March 10, 2018 Share Posted March 10, 2018 Congrats UIUC on their new contract! Sanskriti Prakriti 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sanskriti Prakriti Posted March 10, 2018 Author Share Posted March 10, 2018 18 hours ago, E-P said: Congrats UIUC on their new contract! Thank you so much!!! I'm so relieved and so happy to get back to teaching! For anyone who's interested, especially if you're a prospective UIUC students, here's an overview of the contents of the contract: http://uiucgeo.org/2018/03/09/information-about-the-tentative-agreement/ And, in case you're wondering, we got the guaranteed tuition waivers for TAs and GAs. emjayco and E-P 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sanskriti Prakriti Posted March 10, 2018 Author Share Posted March 10, 2018 On 3/9/2018 at 12:13 PM, theprincessleia said: Side note: If you don't mind me asking, how are students currently managing their finances with all of this going on? We managed to get a provision in the new contract that allows us to make up any hours missed during the strike and thus not miss any pay! So, I'd say the majority of us will end up no worse for wear financially. E-P and emjayco 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theprincessleia Posted March 12, 2018 Share Posted March 12, 2018 On 3/10/2018 at 6:34 PM, Sanskriti Prakriti said: We managed to get a provision in the new contract that allows us to make up any hours missed during the strike and thus not miss any pay! So, I'd say the majority of us will end up no worse for wear financially. That's awesome! Congrats on the new contract. very happy to hear the good news. i'm looking forward to a campus visit next month Sanskriti Prakriti 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sanskriti Prakriti Posted March 12, 2018 Author Share Posted March 12, 2018 @theprincessleia, that's great! And if you come here, you can be sure that you'll have some automatic friends and allies in the GEO! emjayco and theprincessleia 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poliscibi Posted March 15, 2018 Share Posted March 15, 2018 Dope story! Congrats! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plugandsocket Posted March 15, 2018 Share Posted March 15, 2018 Just curious: For those of you who cancelled classes during the strike, how did your students respond once you got back to class this week? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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