SEND A SOLIDARITY LETTER TO THE CHANCELLOR AND BOARD OF TRUSTEES!

Are you a friend of the UIC GEO?  Want to see them receive a fair contract settled quickly?  Then send a letter of solidarity to the Chancellor and Board of Trustees!  You can use the letter below by signing it and mailing it on either via email or snail mail.

In Solidarity with the University of Illinois Graduate Students and the Graduate Employee’s Organization           

The Graduate Employees’ Organization sent the following letter to Chancellor Paula Allen-Meares on Valentine’s Day:

February 14, 2013

Dear Chancellor Allen-Meares:

We, the members of the Graduate Employees’ Organization representing 1500 Teaching Assistants and Graduate Assistants  at the University of Illinois-Chicago, are here at your office today to wish you a “Happy Valentine’s Day” and demand a fair contract.  As you are most likely aware, we’ve been bargaining since May of last year and while we presented your administration with a comprehensive proposal on the first day, we never received a fully comprehensive counterproposal and had to wait until this past December to receive a financial counter.

The remaining articles are predominantly financial.  Wages, health care, and fees are of the greatest concern because currently, our minimum wage is $14,565, well below your administration’s own calculation of $17,958 for the cost of living in Chicago[1].  Considering the fact that our members teach a disproportionately large number of the undergraduates and perform a wide range of the administrative duties for your university, our wage seems especially inadequate.  Add to that the exorbitant cost of tuition differentials that many of us have to pay on a semester-to-semester basis simply to go to school at UIC as well as the rest of the fees which can run in excess of $500 per semester and you can see why it’s immensely difficult for us to make ends meet.

That’s why it’s frustrating and baffling when we offer a wage proposal that’s below the cost of living in Chicago and your administration maintains it’s “too high,” especially when considering the almost 10% raise that you received, bumping your salary from $375,000 in 2011 to $411,752.11 in 2012[2].  We know that your university isn’t broke, so please, keep your raise, but give us our fair share as well.  We love this university which is why we continue to study and work here, but if you expect your university to continue to run smoothly, we need to see some love in return from your administration in the form of fair wages and increased fee and health care waivers.

Ultimately we want to remind you that UIC works because we do.

Sincerely,

The Members of the Graduate Employees’ Organization

My (electronic) signature on this document indicates that I stand in solidarity with the 1500 UIC graduate students who have worked without a contract in six months (from the date this petition was created; 16Feb13).

UIC WORKS BECAUSE WE DO. THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!

NAME: _______________________________ DATE: _________________________

INSTITUTION: ________________________

EMAIL: ________________________

PLEASE EMAIL OR SNAIL MAIL TO THE INDIVIDUALS AT THE FOLLOWING ADDRESSES:

Chancellor Paula Allen-Meares
 2833 University Hall MC 102
, 601 S. Morgan, Chicago, IL 60607-7128 
Email: pameares@uic.edu

Christopher Kennedy, President of Board of Trustees 
352 Henry Administration Building, MC-350, 
506 S. Wright St.,
 Urbana, IL 61801

Email: UIBOT@uillinois.edu