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92_HR0522
LRB9211008NTpk
1 HOUSE RESOLUTION
2 WHEREAS, The University of Illinois is a public
3 institution, is accountable to the citizens of the State of
4 Illinois, and has a responsibility to maintain stability and
5 a high level of quality at our prized State institution; and
6 WHEREAS, The more than 5,000 graduate employees at the
7 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign are indispensable
8 members of the University as they teach nearly half of all
9 introductory level courses, run laboratories and libraries,
10 perform essential research that has established and
11 maintained the University's excellent reputation, and perform
12 many other services vital to the University and the State;
13 and
14 WHEREAS, Graduate students employed by the University as
15 teaching assistants, research assistants, and graduate
16 assistants formed the Graduate Employees' Organization (GEO)
17 to provide a voice for graduate employees in employment
18 policies through union representation and collective
19 bargaining; and
20 WHEREAS, Graduate employees at the University have
21 demonstrated overwhelming support for union representation,
22 with 3,226 graduate employees signing petitions in 1996
23 requesting the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board to
24 conduct a union election and 64% of those voting in a
25 representation election conducted in 1997 by local religious
26 leaders voting for the GEO as their bargaining
27 representative; and
28 WHEREAS, The University administration refuses to
29 recognize the results of this election, refuses to
30 voluntarily recognize the GEO, and has spent hundreds of
31 thousands of public tax dollars fighting a legally binding
32 election to allow graduate students to decide whether they
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1 want union representation; and
2 WHEREAS, The Illinois Appellate Court and the Illinois
3 Supreme Court both affirmed the right of graduate employees
4 to choose union representation; and
5 WHEREAS, Five years after filing a petition with the
6 labor board seeking the right to vote on whether they want
7 union representation, graduate employees still have not had
8 an election and the University administration continues to
9 engage in costly legal maneuvers designed to deny most
10 graduate employees this fundamental right; and
11 WHEREAS, The GEO has exhausted all legal and diplomatic
12 channels to improve their working conditions and secure union
13 recognition, and, as a result, graduate employees have voted
14 to withhold their labor from the University; and
15 WHEREAS, A work stoppage will disrupt the normal
16 operations of the University and will have a negative impact
17 on undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, and the
18 University as a whole; and
19 WHEREAS, Respecting the freedom to form a union is
20 essential to establishing a cooperative, mutually beneficial
21 relationship between the administration of the University and
22 its graduate employees; therefore, be it
23 RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
24 NINETY-SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
25 we urge the University of Illinois administration and the
26 Board of Trustees to respect the right of graduate employees
27 to organize and bargain collectively; and be it further
28 RESOLVED, That we urge the University administration and
29 the Board of Trustees to remain neutral and comply with the
30 decision of their graduate employees regarding union
31 representation and to refrain from engaging in an activity,
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1 written or verbal, designed to interfere with the free choice
2 to join a union; and be it further
3 RESOLVED, That we call upon the Board of Trustees and the
4 Graduate Employees' Organization to meet immediately and
5 reach agreement on the terms of collective bargaining,
6 including, but not limited to, the parameters of a collective
7 bargaining unit and the scope of issues to be dealt with; and
8 be it further
9 RESOLVED, That we urge the University administration, the
10 Board of Trustees, and the Graduate Employees' Organization
11 to bargain in good faith and in the best interests of
12 graduate employees and the university as a whole; and be it
13 further
14 RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be
15 delivered to the University of Illinois President,
16 Chancellor, and Board of Trustees and the Graduate Employees'
17 Organization.