Ratification Vote Results

November 21, 2011 by Leave a comment

Fellow graduate assistants,

I am pleased to report the results of our ratification vote! Of those voting, 91 percent voted to ratify our new contract. Your bargaining team and executive committee wishes to thank all of you for your effort and hard work in securing in this contract! This really is YOUR contract.

Our work, however, is not done! Now that we have ratified this agreement, we need to make sure the university is following the contract — that means asking questions, learning the contract for yourselves, and be willing to speak up against exploitation. GAU is always ready to help resolve problems you have in the workplace but we need to hear from you to do that.

Finally, this contract provides us vehicles for fighting fees and gaining better, more comprehensive healthcare. We need activism and engagement from our members for those upcoming fights to be successful.

In the meantime, we thank you for your support, your solidarity, and your patience. This was not an easy negotiation but you — our members — made all the difference. As we prepare for the holiday break, remember that power. You made all the difference and we can, together, continue to make all the difference.

In solidarity,
Kristi Brownfield
Vice-President for Communications
GA United

Filed under bargaining, elections, events

Contract Ratification Vote TODAY

November 21, 2011 by Leave a comment

Fellow graduate assistants,

Our contract ratification vote is TODAY. Please join us and have your final say on our contract! The current proposal includes modest stipend increases, real change in health care for all students, a new exemption to the 8-credit hour rule, the option for multi-year assistantships, and much more.

You can read an executive summary online (http://bit.ly/vUL22Z) as well as the full-text of the proposed contract available online as a PDF (http://bit.ly/u42VJl).

Our information on voting and voting procedures are available on our website (http://wp.me/P15BvZ-ab). Voting will be held:

TODAY, 10am-6pm
Student Center Ohio Room

We hope to see all of you today to cast your vote on your future working conditions and make your voice heard throughout the university! An announcement of the results will be posted to the listserv and our website tonight after voting finishes.

In solidarity,
Kristi Brownfield
Vice-President for Communications

http://gaunited.org

Filed under bargaining, events

Non-retaliation

November 15, 2011 by Leave a comment

Language from the Faculty Association’s back-to-work agreement section of the Tentative Agreement:

“The Board also agrees to take no legal or disciplinary action against any student, graduate assistant, civil service employee, administrative professional employee or non-tenure track faculty member for his/her actions in support of the Faculty Association during the strike.”

If you feel like as if you’ve been retaliated against for your support of the Faculty Association during the strike, let me know ASAP.

Filed under Uncategorized

Contract Ratification Vote

November 14, 2011 by Leave a comment

Fellow graduate assistants,

GAU is pleased to announce our contract ratification vote! This is our chance to have a real say on our futures as a graduate assistant on campus. While the bargaining team believes the tentative agreement we reached is a good, fair deal, ultimately the choice is yours.

This tentative agreement gives us three very important gains for dealing with fees, stipends, and health care:

Stipends: your bargaining team accepted the university’s proposals for modest stipend increases of 1% on January 1, 2012, 1% on July 1, 2012, and 2% on July 1, 2013. Originally we found these increases unacceptable — because they would almost certainly be eaten up by fee increases. But now we have a vehicle for dealing with fees.

Fees: our priority in bargaining was always to minimize the amount fees are taking out of our pockets. This contract does this two ways. First, the university made a written commitment to try and keep fee increases reasonable. Secondly — and this is what provides real protection — should the fee increases go up more than 4% in 2012 or 5% in 2013, we can reopen the stipend portion of the contract to negotiate for higher pay to offset those increases. The success of those negotiations will depend on two things: the financial health of the university and the support and activism of GAU’s membership. We have to be ready to fight to keep our money in our pockets should the time come!

Health care: your bargaining team was unable to make any immediate changes to our student health care plan. This is partially because of cost; any significant changes in the short term would likely come with staggeringly high fee increases and would price us out of the health care plan. Instead, we elected to take a more long-term view that will ultimately improve benefits for all students, not just graduate assistants. Working together with representatives from Undergraduate Student Government and Graduate and Professional Student Council, GAU will be working to come up with affordable health care solutions such as dependent care, getting rid of the pre-existing condition waiting clause, and lowering the out-of-pocket costs of extended care with an implementation beginning fall 2013. This also includes a university commitment to follow the guidelines of the Affordable Care Act.

You can read an executive summary online (http://bit.ly/vUL22Z) as well as the full-text of the proposed contract available online as a PDF (http://bit.ly/u42VJl).

Our information on voting and voting procedures are available on our website (http://wp.me/P15BvZ-ab). Voting will be held:

Monday November 21, 10am-6pm
Student Center Ohio Room

We hope to see all of you there to cast your vote on your future working conditions and make your voice heard throughout the university!
In solidarity,
Kristi Brownfield
Vice-President for Communications

http://gaunited.org

Filed under bargaining, events

Public Statement of Protest to the BOT

November 10, 2011 by 3 Comments

Today I delivered the following public statement of protest to the Board of Trustees on behalf of GAU leadership:

My name is Kristi Brownfield, vice president for communications of the GAU. I am here this morning on behalf of our union to raise a matter of urgent and grave concern to GAU leadership.

During this difficult time on campus, we and many others in the university community have discovered that the administration has put in place new practices such as threatening to arrest students engaged in peaceful sit-ins, restricting the university’s free press, and censoring perfectly appropriate public comments and questions from students and alumni about the university and its policies.

To be specific, the administration purposefully restricted access to its Facebook page, locked the doors of Anthony Hall to keep students out, and even advised student reporters not to interview employees of the university without first submitting their questions to the administration for approval.

That kind of policy change is unacceptable.

We and all other employees come to you as full participants in the vitality of SIUC – as students, as employees, and as valued members of the SIUC community, with a vital interest in keeping a free press at the university and thereby enhancing its reputation as a place where the free exchange of ideas is encouraged.

Graduate assistants are here for two to six years. During that time we participate in the governance of the institution, conduct award-winning research that enhances the reputation of the university, and teach many of the classes undergraduates require to finish their education.

We, together, make the environment we work and learn in.

When that environment is threatened by instituting practices as archaic as putting restrictions on media freedom, stifling free and open expression, unwillingness to hear legitimate public criticism and questions, then we believe that practice harms the university now and in the future.

Censorship marks a shift in policy that must be addressed in order to build a better university. GAU wants to formally protest the actions of the administration which produced that shift.

We protest against the attempted restriction of a free press. We object to the restriction of free speech and the administrative sanitizing of free expression on Facebook. We abhor the misuse of mass communications to create an environment of fear, hostility, and division. While the administration has taken steps to correct one example of wrong-doing by unlocking Facebook comments, their continued public insistence that only “inflammatory posts” were removed despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary and the continued ban from that page of the people who made perfectly innocuous comments further undermines the trust we have in SIUC’s administration or any of their future attempts to correct what they did wrong.

This administration seems more interested in power than people. Any policies that protect the established power of the status quo over the expressive power of a free people are policies that must be overturned. The students here recognize that. It was our voices inside the Student Center, outside of Anthony Hall and the Stone Center, throughout campus, on Facebook, and online — calling for accountability, fairness, and transparency. That is what we want from this university. That is not what we have been getting. We expect better and in the future we hope to work with the administration to ensure we get that better. Together we can heal this damage to create a better SIUC for today and tomorrow.

Thank you.

Filed under board of trustees

FA Strike is Over!

November 9, 2011 by Leave a comment

Dave Johnson, the chair of the Faculty Association’s Department Representative Council (DRC) and FA spokesman announced tonight that the DRC voted to end their strike. They do not have a tentative agreement yet but the faculty believe there are close.

GAU is pleased with the progress the FA has been able to make in calling for accountability and transparency at SIUC and wish to thank all of you for the support and help you gave our faculty during this strike.

As the FA is no longer striking, GAU will be starting our ratification process for our tentative agreement. You — the dues-paying members — have the final say whether our contract is acceptable or not! We will be looking to schedule a vote for next week. In the meantime, we recommend you join us for our final “Know Your Contract” session tomorrow at 12pm at the Newman Catholic Center at 715 S Washington. Our evening session tomorrow is unfortunately cancelled. You can also find an executive summary online (http://bit.ly/vUL22Z) as well as the full-text of the proposed contract available online as a PDF (http://bit.ly/u42VJl). More information about the ratification vote will be available soon.

In solidarity,
Kristi Brownfield
Vice-President for Communications

Filed under bargaining, strike

Notification of Location Change

November 7, 2011 by Leave a comment

GAU apologizes for the short notice however the locations of the activist meeting tonight at 6pm and “Know Your Contract” session from 5-6pm and throughout the rest of the week have been changed to The Newman Center at 715 S Washington.

There is also a student-sponsored solidarity rally TODAY starting at Anthony Hall at 3:30pm. We encourage you to attend and support our striking faculty.

In solidarity,
Kristi Brownfield
Vice-President for Communications

Filed under events, meetings, strike

Get to Know GAU and Your Contract

November 7, 2011 by Leave a comment

Fellow graduate assistants,

We hope that you will join GAU leadership tonight, at Strike Headquarters (888 W. High, the old Carbondale High School), from 6-7pm to discuss where GAU should go next. We have gained a lot of momentum and power over the last few months during the labor crisis. Now we need to decide ways to continue that growth and what we want to do to use that power! In the short term, we can use it to help the faculty but what about the long term? What changes do you want to see to make the situation better for graduate assistants? To make the university better? Come to this meeting and help us brainstorm ideas and goals for the future to make our union stronger.

We are also having informal “know your contract” sessions throughout the week. This is a great chance to learn what we’ve gained through our hard work and activism. Currently, these sessions are also scheduled at Strike Headquarters so we are not crossing the Faculty Association’s picket line. Should their strike end, we will make arrangements to move these sessions back on campus. Sessions are currently scheduled for:

Monday:
12-1pm
5-6pm

Tuesday:
12-1pm
6-7pm

Wednesday:
12-1pm
5-6pm

Thursday:
12-1pm
6-7pm

As of early this morning, the Faculty Association was still bargaining. FA President, Randy Hughes, send out this notification: “Bargaining resumed at 3:00 p.m. Sunday in the Wabash/Vermilion Rooms in the Student Center. The two bargaining teams are working with a mediator. Up to now, there has been no breakthrough in bargaining. At this hour, your FA team remains in the Wabash Room and is committed to staying through the night working towards an agreement.” There have been no other updates since that announcement. We all hope for a speedy resolution and a fair agreement for the faculty. In the meantime, keep up your presence on the picket lines, continue calling and emailing members of the administration, writing letters to the editor of the Daily Egyptian and the Southern in support of the faculty. Even stopping for five minutes to talk to faculty on the picket lines and let them know you support them provides a boost. Our actions and activities have made the difference both in faculty morale AND in showing the administration this is NOT business as usual. Keep up the pressure and we can help the faculty achieve accountability, transparency, and fairness.

In solidarity,
Kristi Brownfield
Vice-President of Communications

Filed under bargaining, events, meetings, strike

Demonstrations and Standing in Support of the Faculty Association

November 4, 2011 by Leave a comment

Fellow graduate assistants,

As an employee represented by GAU, there is a No Strike/No Lockout clause in your tentative agreement. This is not a new clause; this clause was in the previous GAU contract. Under this provision in the tentative agreement, there should be no refusal to perform work that is part of your regular duties or intentionally interrupt the normal operations of the university.

However, you do have the right to refuse work outside of your regular job duties. If you are approached by a supervisor or any member of the administration with a request to perform work outside of your regular job duties, please contact a member of GAU leadership immediately.

You are allowed to demonstrate in any picketing or free speech activities on behalf of the Faculty Association before and/or after work, on your lunch hour, or any time you are not regularly scheduled to work.

If you choose to support the FA in their endeavors, you do have a right to:

Wear buttons or clothing
Pass out supportive literature
Place signs in your vehicle
Or any other type of supportive action that does not interfere with your job duties or the normal work flow of the University

If you chose to picket, we advise you do not carry a sign indicating that YOU are on strike; however, you can carry a sign that indicates:

I support the FA
Settle the FA Contract Now
Fair Contract for Faculty
Any other type of FA support sign

If you are approached by a member of the administration about demonstrating your support for the FA through any of these activities, contact GAU immediately!

In Solidarity,
Kristi Brownfield
Vice-President of Communications

Filed under events, strike

Contract Information

November 4, 2011 by Leave a comment

Fellow graduate assistants,

GAU will be having a meeting for current and future activists on Monday night, from 6-7pm, at the Strike Headquarters (888 W. High, the old Carbondale High School). Now that we have finished contract negotiations and bargained a fair settlement for our members, we would like to discuss the future of GAU and what’s next!

We have released the full text of the contract on our website (available here). You can also view our previous contract, for comparison, on the website (available here). Underlined language is language that is new or has changed within the contract. We realize that there are currently grammatical and spelling errors in the document as is, which is the result of the bargaining teams on both sides working through the night to try and reach a settlement. We hope to work with the administration’s teams to fix that before the final signing of a ratified contract.

We will also be having “Know Your Contract” sessions next week at out Strike Headquarters. While we hope the Faculty Association will be able to reach a fair settlement before Monday, should they still be on strike, we want to honor their picket lines by having these meetings off campus. So we hope you will join us to learn more about the tentative agreement:

Monday:
12-1pm
5-6pm

Tuesday:
12-1pm
6-7pm

Wednesday:
12-1pm
5-6pm

Thursday:
12-1pm
6-7pm

We believe this is a very fair settlement and your bargaining team is ready and eager to educate all of you of the gains we have made. The executive committee has decided to delay the ratification vote by the membership of our tentative agreement until the Faculty Association is no longer on strike as a symbolic statement of support for the Faculty Association and their own fight to reach a fair deal at the bargaining table. This will not change the terms of the tentative agreement and will not delay the implementation of the agreement either. We hope to be able to hold the ratification vote as soon as late next week.

Finally, we hope that you all will join us in supporting the Faculty Association as they continue to fight for fairness, transparency, and accountability. We urge you all to contact the SIU Board of Trustees, President Poshard, and Chancellor Cheng to urge them to get back to the bargaining table and settle fairly with the Faculty Association:

Ms. Misty Whittington
Executive Secretary of the Board
Office of the Southern Illinois University Board of Trustees
(618) 536-3357

Rita Cheng: rcheng@siu.edu
SIUC Chancellor
(618) 453-2341

Glenn Poshard: poshard@siu.edu
SIU President
(618) 536-3357

We are also asking people to express their support through an online petition here:

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/savetenureatsiucarbondale/

In solidarity,
Kristi Brownfield
Vice-President of Communications

Filed under bargaining, events, meetings, news

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