Negotiations update

On Friday February 18, 2011, after ten months of bargaining with the
SIUC administration, the GAU bargaining team met with a federal
mediator to discuss our current contract. We wanted to let you know
our progress and where we are with bargaining.

We have managed to fix and clarify several minor issues within the
contract. However, the major work is still not finished! This
includes:

The rights of assistants to have multi-year contracts: no more
uncertainty about whether you will have an assistantship the next
semester
Fees: GAU proposed a fee freeze at the 2010-2011 fees level (that’s
$3,115 for the academic year). This freeze would last for the length
of the contract.
Stipends: GAU proposed a $0 increase of GA stipends for the year of
2010-2011, and a $100/month stipend increase or a percentage stipend
increase that matches the increase the Faculty Association bargains,
whichever is less, for the 2011-2012 and 2012-2013 years.
Health care: GAU wants a 100% reimbursement of the Student Medical
Benefit Primary and Extended Care fees. Our current reimbursement is
at 50% for the Primary Care fee only. We also asked for the health
care deductible to be reduced from $1000 to $250 as well as the
inclusion of dependent coverage.

NONE OF THESE ISSUES HAVE BEEN RESOLVED. GAU believes that all
graduate assistants should have job security, a living wage, and a
healthy and safe working environment.

So how can you help?  Join us in getting the message out.  We’ll be sending out postcards for you to sign and return to me (Jim Podesva), which will be presented to the Board of Trustees.  We started out with 300 cards in three days, imagine how many we can get in a month’s time!

Bargaining Update

On Thursday October 21, GAU leadership held a general membership meeting to give the state of the union and bargaining to our members. The meeting covered some background information on the union but the major focus of what the meeting was about dealt with bargaining.

GAU is currently bargaining our second contract. As employees, our best protection and way to gain quality benefits and pay is through a strong contract. We negotiate a strong contract by showing strong union membership numbers and by putting pressure on the administration through collective action.

The leadership team and the bargaining committee conducted surveys of the teaching, research, and administrative assistants we represent. We also examined contracts of other graduate assistant unions across the state, in neighboring states, and across the country to try and see the best ways we could make our contract stronger. Finally, using the member surveys as a guide, we began going through our own contract to identify problems and find solutions.

We found several issues that affected graduate assistants which we made a priority to fix:

1. Rising fees
   Every time the fees rise, we are TAKING A PAY CUT.
2. Inadequate stipend
   Our stipends do not provide a living wage that allows graduate assistants to pay bills; many assistants graduate from SIUC with enormous loan debt.
3. Inadequate health coverage
   $1000 deductible; no partner or family benefit; no prescription coverage; no vision; no dental
4. Assistantship length is too short
   Assistants want guaranteed funding for their length of stay at SIUC; Master’s candidates should have funding for TWO YEARS and doctoral candidates should have funding for FOUR YEARS when you START.
5. Earlier notification of having an assistantship
   Many assistants spend months waiting on notification of whether or not they have funding.
6. Earlier notification of actual assistantship assignment
   Not only are assistants waiting longer and longer to find out if they have funding, they are also waiting to find out what they are being doing; this leads to trying to prepare a week before the semester begins.
7. Clarification of what “work” means
   Many assistants were being asked to do jobs and duties outside of their job descriptions; assistants should not be asked to pick up dry cleaning, get faculty or staff coffee, mow lawns, or other tasks; research assistants should not be asked to help faculty prepare a class; teaching assistants should not be asked to perform administrative tasks in department offices.
8. Clarification on when assistants are allowed to take holidays, vacations, and paid leave
   Assistants wanted to know if the student calendar – and student breaks – applied to them.

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