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Page 12-- The Michigan Daily - Friday, April 14, 1989
GRADUATE EMPLOYEES ORGANIZATION
15 YEARS OF STRENGTH AND PROGRESS
1974-1989
All TAs are invited to
GEO's 15th Anniversary Celebration
Friday, April 14, 4-8 PM
Assembly Hall, 4th Floor Rackham
Refreshments served
Highlights from GEO's first 15 years:
* Fall,'73: The summer before, U-M removes TAs' in-state tuition benefit which had historically been a part of a teaching fellowship. TAs react with spontaneous meetings
leading to the first campus-wide TA organization, named OTF (Organization of Teaching Fellows).
** April, 74: Research and Staff Assistants (RAs and SAs) join OTFs activities and protests. TAs, RAs and SAs overwhelmingly approve GEO (Graduate Employees
Organization) as their official bargaining agent in a certification election. The vote is approved by the Michigan Employment Relations Commission (MERC) on April
15. GEO is born.
* February, 75: GEO's first bargaining with U-M Administration stalls after eight months and enters mediation. GEO membership overwhelmingly votes in favor of
a strike, which begins in early February. Hundreds of Graduate Assistants picket U-M; more than 50% of the undergraduates boycott their classes; and teamsters
recognize the strike and agree not to drive their trucks through GEO's picket lines. After five weeks the strike ends when U-M accepts GEO's proposals. Immediately
afterwards GEOs first contract is ratified by the membership.
** 1976: GEO affiliates with the American Federation of Teachers, and becomes a local #3550 of the Michigan Federation of Teachers.
* 1976: During negotiations for a second contract, CEO charges that U-M's negotiating stance constitutes an Unfair Labor Practice. U-M claims that GEO cannot file a
ULP charge against the U-M because TAs and RAs are not employees. The question whether TAs and RAs are in fact employees is debated in court for the next five
years.
** November, 1981: MERC rules that U-M TAs--but not RAs-are employees of the University. GEO is re-legitimized as a collective bargaining unit. CEO's second
contract, for which negotiations began in '76, is signed by both parties on November 23.
** September, 1983: GEO and U-M settle the third contract, ratified immediately by the membership (98% majority).
** April, 1985: GEO and U-M settle the fourth contract, ratified immediately by the membership.
** October, 1986: GEO and U-M settle the fifth contract, ratified immediately by the membership.
** February-April, 1987: Negotiations for the sixth contract stall, with GEO demanding a full tuition waiver and paid TA training. The membership authorizes a strike
if a settlement is not reached by midnight April 8. That night, over 900 TAs attend the largest membership meeting in GEOs history, and GEO's bargaining team
announces that U-M has agreed to a full tuition waiver and credity/pay for TA training. A strike is averted by the narrowest of margins. The sixth contract is ratified
the following week.
** January-April, 1988: Changes in the Federal tax law render the full tuition waiver a tremendous tax liability for TAs and RAs, costing some out-of-state TAs up to $200/
month in taxes. In March, over 600 TAs and RAs rally and eventually occupy the Fleming Building to protest U-M's interpretation of the tax change.
* October-November, 1988: After a TA initiated letter-writing campaign to Congress, lobbying by U-M officials, and support from the Michigan Delegation, Congress
removes the tax on tuition waivers, and TAs finally reap full benefit from their '87 contract.
** March, 1989: GEO and U-M settle the seventh contract, ratified immediately by the membership.
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(Date of Ratification)
Salary Increase
Tuition Waiver
Benefits
TA Training
I. Feb.1975
5.6%
Group health
& life insurance
grievance procedure
--
4
II. Nov.1981
4.5%
TAs legally
established as
employees
Dental Benefits
Depts. required
to discuss issue
w/TAs if 25%
request meeting
Depts. required to
offer TA training
III. Sept.1983
5.0%
First established
by contract 40%;
45% for candidates
above .25 fraction
50% for all above
.25 fraction
56% above .25
fraction
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IV. April1985
V. October 1986
5.0%
4.7%
--
--
VI. At)riL 1987
0.0%
88% 1st year
TA traininix must
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VI Anril 1987.......88..l.tvear TA ....«..g must3.