GEO might go on strike!
So the big buzz on campus right about now is all about the possible, likely, upcoming strike that our graduate student employees may go on. From what I understand, the GEO (Graduate Employees’ Organization), the local union for our grad student employees, which is also affiliated with AFL-CIO and the AFT and IFT, has yet to negotiate a desirable contract with the University. After six months of back and forth, they voted almost unanimously to authorize a strike. The press release that the GEO sent out makes a lot of sense to me: it points out that even though the University is financially in a tight spot, the funds should and could easily be reallocated to solve the problem of graduate students being paid less than a living wage.
Some of the posters I’ve seen around campus are pretty straightforward and they ask questions, like: if the University doesn’t want to discontinue tuition waivers, then why would they want to secure the right to take them away in the contract? Another one I saw said that if the GEO and the University were to have a dispute, that the University would be the neutral third party to settle it. I laughed out loud at that one, then I read it again and realized it was serious.
So, some people are geeked, simply because they’ve realized that if their TA goes on strike, then they don’t have class. That’s all good, fine and dandy as far as sleeping in goes, but as far as the education they paid for, I dunno how that works. Some of the buildings on the quad that we normally have class in will be picketed, and many people have agreed that it’s a good idea to not cross the picket line…so they may hold class elsewhere or do it electronically. I would think that is also crossing the picket line, but apparently some folks are okay with that. I know a few seniors who, due to financial stuff, were banking on getting out of here in December instead of next May, and now some of us are concerned that this may delay our grades and therefore our graduation. I’ve been told something different in each class, and it seems to me that many students have different understandings as well as a wide array of emotions about the situation. The idea of striking and sticking it to the man seems pretty romanticized with a lot of people, and I’m not sure that everyone understands that a strike means things have gotten pretty bad. We’ll see what happens with the session on Saturday to try once more to negotiate before the strike starts on Monday.
I’m a transfer student with a very small major, so I’ve only known a few TAs in my time here (most of them truly wonderful people), and this year I don’t have any TAs at all, so I’ve been reading the news from various sources and talking to the people around me. We got an email from our stand in chancellor and provost that was basically like, “to those of you who have been under a massive rock, the TAs are goin on strike. If you want to know how this affects you, ask your department.” Well it didn’t say that verbatim, but it did provide a link for the Google-challenged to find a way to contact their respective departments in case there are questions about the impact of the strike. Here is that link: http://illinois.edu/ds/azList Many of the undergraduates have expressed support for the grad students. I’m just watching to see how this plays out. As a potential graduate student who will certainly be looking for work, I am quite interested in seeing how many of their demands the GEO can have met.
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12.06.09
5:21 pm
Wow! That’s quite interesting. Has there been any information released on this? Amber
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Josh
11.23.09
8:39 pm
Have you heard any more on the strike?