GEO Members and Allies Occupy Swanlund Administration Building; Entire Building Closed by GEO Blockade

At approximately 7:30 this morning, nearly 50 members and supporters of the Graduate Employees' Organization (GEO) entered and occupied the Swanlund Administration Building (corner of Sixth St. and John St., Champaign). GEO members are standing in all the entrances to prevent any University employees from entering the building. The building, which normally holds 100+ employees, is completely closed down by this action.

"We're here to demand that the Board of Trustees and University Administration negotiate an out-of-court settlement that respects the express wishes of graduate employees for union representation," said GEO Co-President Uma Pimplaskar. "We insist that this agreement be made as a public promise and written down in a signed, official letter."

Today's action is timed to coincide with the arrival of the Board of Trustees to the Urbana-Champaign campus for a two-day meeting. "The Administration always has excuses for not meeting us," said GEO Communications Officer Dave Kamper, "But today, their choice is simple: they can negotiate with us, or they can arrest us."

The GEO has already scheduled a three-day strike for the second week of April, which can only be averted by a settlement today. GEO members have vowed to keep up the pressure on the UI Administration until graduate employees are granted union rights.

Background: The GEO has been fighting for the rights of graduate employees since 1994. 3,226 teaching, research and graduate assistants signed cards calling for a union election in 1996, and 64% of voters chose GEO in a 1997 election. In 1999, the Illinois House of Representatives passed a bill giving graduate employees union rights. The GEO has repeatedly sought peaceful negotiations with the Administration, but UI Administrators have refused to discuss the matter with GEO. The GEO held a two-day work stoppage in the fall of 2001, where 350 teaching assistants ceased work and hundreds more picketed and marched in support.