Fellow workers,
During the bargaining session on Tuesday, March 26th, GEO moved negotiations forward by providing the University with a revised package of economic proposals. This package did NOT make any changes to our wage and housing stipend demands – a clear priority voiced by members at the general membership meeting on Monday 25th. We did make movement from our initial position on other economic issues while still ensuring that we continue to advocate for and address the needs of members. This negotiated proposal package includes the following:
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Conditional acceptance of admin’s counter-proposal waiving 100% of the graduate service fee and the engineering fee over the life of the contract (our initial proposal was to waive ALL fees 100%, namely including the graduate entrance fee)
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Conditional acceptance of admin’s counter-proposal for tuition credits (waivers) to apply to CPE/UWW courses (our initial proposal also included credits applying to the summer)
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Conditional acceptance to increase contributions to the health & welfare trust fund to correct the deficit (this was our initial proposal)
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Free YCMP-25 meal plan per semester for all grad workers (our initial proposal was YCMP 65 meal plan for all workers and more for ARDs and workers with children)
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A $450k fund for international grad workers to be reimbursed for expenses related to immigration costs (our initial proposal started the fund at $500k and included TOEFL as a reimbursement)
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Expanded access to childcare, including additional allocation of CEEC slots (our initial proposal also included making this program free of cost)
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Expanding PVTA B43 pass to include summer months (our initial proposal included summer fare for all routes and for the Boston shuttle)
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Inclusion of internally-funded trainees into the bargaining unit – an issue currently in arbitration (our initial proposal also included graduate hourly workers)
The movements in this package include the hard decision to step back from our initial proposal for the inclusion of graduate hourly workers into the bargaining unit, as well as some reductions in our economic demands. Further, the campaign for graduate hourly workers to be organized continues and GEO will work with those workers to get support from the UAW. The union made these difficult choices in order to demonstrate economic movement on the table.
We have and will continue to protect the needs of all our membership by prioritizing the most crucial proposals such as housing and wages, and ensuring that the needs of all our members continue to be advocated for.
The employer was also provided with the set of previous tentative agreements that they refused to sign during the last session. The administration brought no counters to our proposals passed at the last session.
Despite our substantial economic movement and willingness to engage in good faith, admin still claims that negotiations are not progressing quickly enough and declared their intention to file for mediation. This move by the administration should not be seen as an act of goodwill to accelerate negotiations. Instead, it is a tactic by the administration to diminish our collective power at the table by eliminating the ability for all rank-and-file members to participate in the process.
We believe that we can come to an amicable resolution at the bargaining table without a mediator. In order to ensure a settled contract, we believe that it is important that the membership is involved in every step of the bargaining process, and we will ensure that the integrity of this process is maintained. As it stands, GEO will continue to negotiate with the administration with the intention of reaching a strong contract for all of our members.
This is a critical point in our contract campaign – members must continue to turn out at bargaining sessions and organize within your departments. Please be in contact with the CAT team as we strategize our next steps.
In solidarity,
Denny, Juni, Isuru, Chris, Isaac
GEO Bargaining Committee
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In solidarity, GEO Leadership
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