- What is GEO?
- How is GEO different from GPSO?
- Who does GEO represent?
- What is open source unionizing?
- Why do we still use the term "union"?
- Why should we challenge IU when it is facing budget problems?
- Won't I have to pay dues?
- I've heard that Indiana has laws prohibiting us from unionizing. Is this true?
- Will joining a union alienate me from my faculty mentors?
- Will GEO raise the stipends of poorly-paid employees by cutting the pay from others?
- Won't unionization be risky for international students?
- Fast facts about graduate employee unions:
ORGANIZE! JOIN THE GRADUATE EMPLOYEES ORGANIZATION
What is GEO?
The Graduate Employees Organization (GEO) is an independent group
that organizes Indiana University's graduate students to advocate for themselves as employees. GEO is
not affiliated with an international union, but it does aim to act as an independent, "open-source"
union run by and for IU's graduate employees. In other words, GEO organizes graduate employees to act
collectively on their own behalf and hopes to earn a seat at the table when the administration
determines graduate employee stipends, benefits, and working conditions.
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How is GEO different from GPSO?
The GPSO is a student government organized under the auspices of the university
administration and represents us primarily in our role as students. GEO hopes to be a union of and
for graduate employees. GEO aims to work in cooperation with GPSO (several GEO members serve as GPSO
representatives), and we believe that both institutions are vital for IU's graduate student body.
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Who does GEO represent?
GEO is open to all graduate employees in all disciplines, including international students. In addition, we welcome graduate students who
are not currently serving as employees who may serve as employees in coming years.
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What is open source unionizing?
Because GEO is not affiliated with an international union and because Indiana does
not uphold the right to collective bargaining for public employees, we have chosen a path known as "open
source unionizing." This means that GEO will pursue the goals common to unions (higher stipends,
grievance resolution procedures, collective bargaining for better contracts, etc) without relying on
formal union recognition. Though we would like to be recognized as an independent union, we will not
depend on this process to advocate for graduate employee causes. We will employ activist rather than
bureaucratic techniques to pressure the university to meet our demands. Open-source unionism avoids some
of the dangers of union bureaucracy, but it also means that all graduate employees must take
responsibility to build and maintain the organization.
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Why do we still use the term "union"?
Because GEO is not affiliated with an international union and because Indiana does
not uphold the right to collective bargaining for public employees, we have chosen a path known as "open
source unionizing." This means that GEO will pursue the goals common to unions (higher stipends,
grievance resolution procedures, collective bargaining for better contracts, etc) without relying on
formal union recognition. Though we would like to be recognized as an independent union, we will not
depend on this process to advocate for graduate employee causes. We will employ activist rather than
bureaucratic techniques to pressure the university to meet our demands. Open-source unionism avoids some
of the dangers of union bureaucracy, but it also means that all graduate employees must take
responsibility to build and maintain the organization.
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Why should we challenge IU when it is facing budget problems?
Although GEO recognizes that public institutions have limited resources, it is important to note that
graduate employees at all institutions, even the wealthiest, are offered stipends and health care
packages similar to ours. Only through unionization have students at the wealthiest schools been able to
improve their conditions above those of poorer public schools like IU. This suggests that the poor
conditions of graduate employees are not due to limited resources but to a trend at American
universities of using low-wage labor (grad students, adjuncts, temporary professors) to reduce their
reliance on more costly tenure-track appointments. In other words, our willingness to work for almost
nothing strips us of our own future jobs. Moreover, IU chooses how to allocate its resources, and we
have the right to advocate for ourselves when those decisions are made. As instructors of undergraduate
students, we play a major role in IU's primary project: education. Overworked and underpaid instructors
do not benefit the institution's educational reputation. IU-Bloomington's operating budget for 2005-06
was $1.03 billion. From this sum, it paid its administrators generously (President Herbert earns
$352,000 as a base salary) and set its athletic budget at $39 million. A significant raise for graduate
student employees would affect only a margin of the university's budget. IU currently spends
significantly less than 1% of its budget (0.3%) on our health care.
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I've heard that Indiana has laws prohibiting us from unionizing. Is this true?
There is no law that prevents workers from unionizing. The state of Indiana does not require Indiana University to recognize our union as a collective
bargaining unit. The same holds true, however, for all Indiana University employees, including clerical and maintenance workers. Despite this disadvantage, IU has agreed
to recognize maintenance workers at IU through AFSCME Local 832 and support staff through CWA Local 4730. It can agree to recognize GEO as well. Even if IU doesn't
recognize GEO as a union, we will continue to advocate for graduate employees through activist means.
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Will joining a union alienate me from my faculty mentors?
GEO hopes to negotiate with the administration, not faculty, so it has no reason to affect such relationships. In a formal four-year study of 300
faculty at five unionized universities, Gordon Hewitt found that 90% felt collective bargaining did not affect their ability to instruct or mentor their graduate students.
The vast majority of the faculty he surveyed supported the right of students to unionize.
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Will GEO raise the stipends of poorly-paid employees by cutting the pay from others?
GEO seeks to raise everyone's conditions; we will not cut anyone's pay to fund increases for others.
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Won't unionization be risky for international students?
International students are legally permitted to join unions. GEO is committed to meeting the needs of international students, and we welcome
participation from our international student community to foster this process.
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Fast facts about graduate employee unions:
- There are 30 graduate employee unions in the country. They are affiliated with various unions, including the UAW, CWA, American Federation of Teachers (AFT), and United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE).
- University of Illinois, which only recently unionized, has already won some vision and dental benefits (checkups covered), paid training time, a waiver of the athletic fee, and parental leave.
- In its first contract in 2002, Temple University won, among other things, an initial pay increase of 13-21%.
- University of Iowa's graduate employees won safeguards against overwork-and backpay for those who have been overworked. They now receive mental health and dental coverage as well as 9 paid holidays a year.
- The University of Wisconsin-Madison graduate employee union has won, among other things, paid, department-specific teacher training and child care assistance.
Please see the Links page to visit other University graduate student organizations.