[Peace] UIUC GRADUATE EMPLOYEES' ORGANIZATION TO STRIKE OVER TUITION WAIVER SECURITY

[Brian Dolinar]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: UIUC GRADUATE EMPLOYEES' ORGANIZATION TO STRIKE OVER
TUITION WAIVER SECURITY

ADMINISTRATION'S PROPOSALS ON ALL OTHER ISSUES, INCLUDING WAGES, DEEMED
ACCEPTABLE

URBANA-CHAMPAIGN (November 15): The strike committee of the Graduate
Employees' Organization (GEO), American Federation of Teachers/Illinois
Federation of Teachers Local 6300, AFL-CIO, The University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), has authorized a strike against the Board of
Trustees of the University of Illinois to begin at 8am on Monday morning.
After six hours of negotiation on Saturday afternoon, the GEO and
administration bargaining teams managed to reach mutually agreeable terms on
all aspects of the GEO contract except tuition waiver security. The
administration's refusal to guarantee the continuation of its current
tuition waiver practice not only means that the majority of graduate
employees could be forced to pay thousands of dollars in additional tuition
charges, but also indicates its plans to implement such a change. By making
graduate education untenable for all but the most affluent students, the
administration is abandoning its responsibility to ensure access to the
highest level of public education for all.  This is contrary to the
University of Illinois' mission as a public land grant institution.  By
calling a strike, the Graduate Employees' Organization is holding the
University of Illinois administration accountable to its stated commitment
to excellent and accessible higher education.

The GEO is a labor union representing all teaching and graduate assistants
(TAs and GAs) on the UIUC campus.  With over 2600 GEO members, and over 2600
graduate employees represented in the bargaining unit, the GEO is one of the
largest higher education union locals in the United States.  Over the course
of a three day vote, an overwhelming 92% of participating UIUC GEO members
voted last week to authorize a strike against the Board of Trustees of the
University of Illinois.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT: Peter Campbell, GEO Communications Officer,
odell.campbell at gmail.com, 253-222-5861, or the GEO office at geo at uigeo.org,
217-344-8283, 1001 S. Wright Street, Champaign, IL, 61820.  Information
about the GEO can also be found on our website at www.uigeo.org.

###

BD
-- 
Brian Dolinar, Ph.D.
303 W. Locust St.
Urbana, IL 61801
briandolinar at gmail.com
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