For in-depth coverage of the January 31 bargaining session between GEO and UM – at which UM summarily rejected nearly *all* of GEO’s contract proposals – check out this week’s At the Table. UM countered GEO’s Salaries proposal (Article 10) with a proposal for a 2% wage increase for each of the next 3 years, whereas GEO proposed increases of 9% for each of the next 3 years. At last week’s membership meeting, also debriefed in this week’s At the Table, GEO members discussed their frustration at UM’s lackluster counterproposals, affirming that wage increases, expanded healthcare access, and wage parity are among Union members’ top priorities.
For a perspective from a GEO member who was in the room at the Jan 31 session, check out SNRE student Hugh Stimson’s liveblogging. He puts UM’s responses in a nutshell:
Your request of pay raises in keeping with cost-of-living increase: No.
Your request for same-sex benefits: meh.
Your request for pay during required training events: No.
Your request for partial tuition waivers for small-fractional GSIs: No.
Your request for tuition waivers for quarter+ fraction GSIs: No.
Want to change some of those nos to yeses? Drop by bargaining sessions; come to a membership meeting. Stop by the office and make a few buttons. Stay involved in GEO decision-making processes, and talk to your friends and fellow GSIs about negotiations. YOUR support for YOUR union will win OUR contract!
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