Chronology of Negotiations
Negotiations between the University of Illinois Chicago and representatives from the Graduate Employees Organization, the union that represents UIC’s more than 1,500 graduate employees in collective bargaining, began in April 2021. By mutual agreement and is standard practice, negotiations first focused solely on resolving the non-economic issues identified by the parties. Negotiations around economic issues, including health care, wages and fees, first began in mid-December 2021.
Throughout these negotiations, both between the parties directly and with the support of an independent federal mediator, the university has worked diligently to reach a fair and fiscally responsible contract without disruption to the teaching and learning environment at UIC.
The next negotiation session is scheduled for April 25.
April 24, 2022
The university and the GEO met for the 37th time—our 13th session with the federal mediator. The meeting lasted nine hours. A tentative agreement was reached on the non-discrimination and anti-harassment policy.
April 22, 2022
The university and the GEO met for the 36th time—our 12th session with the federal mediator. The meeting lasted one and a half hours.
April 21, 2022
The university and the GEO met for the 35th time—our 11th session with the federal mediator. The meeting lasted seven and a half hours.
April 20, 2022
The university and the GEO met for the 34 time—our 10th session with the federal mediator. The meeting lasted five and a half hours.
April 19, 2022
The university and the GEO met for the 33rd time—our ninth session with the federal mediator. The meeting lasted four and a half hours. A tentative agreement was reached.
April 14, 2022
The university and the GEO met for the 32nd time—our eighth session with the federal mediator. The meeting lasted 12 hours.
April 12, 2022
The university and the GEO met for the 31st time—our seventh session with the federal mediator. The meeting lasted four hours.
April 9, 2022
The university and the GEO met for the 30th time—our sixth session with the federal mediator. The meeting lasted three hours.
April 7, 2022
The university and the GEO met for the 29th time—our fifth session with the federal mediator. The meeting lasted six hours. The GEO presented its Notice of Intent to Strike during this session.
March 30, 2022
The university and the GEO met for the 28th time—our fourth session with the federal mediator. Both parties agreed to extend the length of this and future meetings to six hours. A tentative agreement was reached on grievance procedures.
March 24, 2022
The university and the GEO met for the 27th time—our third session with the federal mediator. The meeting lasted three hours. A tentative agreement was reached on leaves and holidays.
March 17, 2022
The university and the GEO met for the 26th time—our second session with the federal mediator. The meeting lasted close to three hours.
March 10, 2022
The university and the GEO met for the 25th time—our first session with the federal mediator. The meeting lasted three hours.
March 3, 2022
The university and the GEO met for the 24th time. The parties met for an hour and focused on identifying the open items in preparation for an introductory meeting with the federal mediator.
February 24, 2022
The university and the GEO met for the 23rd time. The parties met for close to three hours.
February 17, 2022
The university and the GEO met for the 22nd time. The parties met for two and a half hours.
February 10, 2022
The university and the GEO met for the 21st time. During the three-hour meeting, the parties agreed to a joint request to engage an independent mediator from the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service.
February 3, 2022
The university and the GEO met for the 20th time. The parties met for three hours.
January 27, 2022
The university and the GEO met for the 19th time. The parties met for three hours.
January 20, 2022
The university and the GEO met for the 18th time. The parties met for three hours and agreed to meet on a weekly basis moving forward.
December 14, 2021
The university and the GEO met for the 17th time. The parties met for three hours.
November 30, 2021
The university and the GEO met for the 16th time. The parties met for three hours.
November 16, 2021
The university and the GEO met for the 15th time. The parties met for three hours.
November 4, 2021
The university and the GEO met for the 14th time. The parties met for three hours.
October 19, 2021
The university and the GEO met for the 13th time. The parties met for three hours.
October 1, 2021
The university and the GEO met for the 12th time. The parties met for three hours.
September 17, 2021
The university and the GEO met for the 11th time. The parties met for about two and a half hours.
September 2, 2021
The university and the GEO met for the 10th time. The parties met for three hours.
August 16, 2021
The university and the GEO met for the 9th time. The parties met for a little more than two hours.
August 3, 2021
The university and the GEO met on Zoom for the 8th time. The parties met for two hours. A tentative agreement was reached on discipline and dismissal.
July 20, 2021
The university and the GEO met for the 7th time. The parties met for two hours.
July 6, 2021
The university and the GEO met for the 6th time. The parties met for two hours.
June 22, 2021
The university and the GEO met on Zoom for the 5th time. The meeting lasted two hours.
June 6, 2021
The university and GEO met for the 4th time. The meeting lasted just under four hours and agreed to meet bi-weekly throughout the summer for a duration of two hours.
May 18, 2021
The university and the GEO met for the 3rd time. The meeting lasted almost four hours. Tentative agreements were reached on union rights and dues deductions.
April 27, 2021
The university and the GEO met for the 2nd time. The meeting lasted almost four hours. GEO indicated they would like to only meet one time per month during the summer. Tentative agreements were reached on two evaluation and work rules.
April 13, 2021
The university and the GEO met for the first time. The meeting lasted about three and a half hours. Both parties agree to begin meeting every other week. Tentative agreements were reached on 11 items, including:
- Purpose
- Management Rights
- Training
- Additional Employment
- Expenses
- Access to Personnel Files
- Health and Safety
- Labor Management Meetings
- Electronic Availability
- Savings
- Entire Agreement