GEO Strike at the University of Illinois 16 November 2009

WATCH IN HD MODE. YouTube is having problems. in HD it works fine. This video was taken on the morning of 16 November 2009 at the Urbana campus of the University of Illinois. The Graduate Employees Organization called a strike against the campus administration when the issue of tuition waivers was not satisfactorily resolved.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• GEO
• University
• Illinois
• UIUC
• Urbana
• Strike
• Graduate
• Employees
• Organization
• Labor
• Labour
• Action

[Daniel0112358]

@snoopster2009

And do you object to the subcontractor analysis? Ironically you were in that situation: you pay U of I for education. U of I makes contracts with GEO to provide part of the education. the contracts are made to last for a set period. If it expires, then they have to negotiate a new one and until they do, the TAs are working ad hoc and not obligated to do so--they fulfilled the existing deal and they can't be forced to sign a deal they don't like or to teach without a deal

[Daniel0112358]

@snoopster2009

if they are "just students" why does the U pay them salary? and why are they covered by federal union law? mmm? and if they don't have a living wage (and the university itself named the 16 grand-ish figure in a study, and only about half of TAs demanded raise--the ones under that level, and they eventually accepted lesser raise i believe) then you are basically saying they should just rely on savings, debt or parents while working for the University.

[Daniel0112358]

@snoopster2009

like the rest of us? but they are taking 4 years undergrad plus 7 years-ish of grad school if for phd. so they have a qualification that would allow them to get something beyond a job at micky d's if they chose not to continue education. you really don't understand supply. or demand: are the undergrads teaching around a quarter of classes that the U would otherwise have to hire adjunct profs for at much higher pay?

[snoopster2009]

@Daniel0112358 I wouldn't sue anybody because I wouldn't be in that situation. The U of I is in terrible shape financially, and all of the grad students should have known that before they decided to come here. None of my TAs did anything differently during this whole mess: they must have all realized that they don't necessarily need a "living wage" since they are, like the rest of us, just students. That's just how I see it.

[Daniel0112358]

@snoopster2009

ur funny. you can walk thru. it can only embarass you, not block access to the building.

and their previous contract had expired, and the university had not offered one they found acceptable, so they stopped their uncontracted work

if you pay a contractor to build you a house and the deal he has with the roofing subcontractor expires halfway through the job and the guy you have a deal with wont offer a deal that convinces the subcontractor to resign, who do you sue?

[kcerf90]

walking past that was seriously intimidating!

[snoopster2009]

Holding my education for ransom. Thank you GEO.

[putittogether]

I hope you FIRED !!!

[julayok]

Give 'em hell, fellow workers.

[thomthom9]

now THAT'S a picket line!