Illinois House of Representatives Passes Resolution Urging UI Administration to Bargain With GEO and Avert Work Stoppage

The Illinois House of Representatives today passed a resolution endorsing the GEO's fight for union recognition and calling on the University Administration to bargain in good faith with the GEO. The resolution comes a day before the beginning of the GEO's two-day work stoppage. The resolution passed without a roll call vote.

"The GEO has exhausted all legal and diplomatic channels to improve their working conditions and secure union recognition," the resolution reads. "[T]he freedom to form a union is essential to establishing a cooperative, mutually beneficial relationship between the Administration of the University and its graduate employees."

The resolution, sponsored by 25 members of the House of Representatives, recognizes that the work stoppage will "disrupt the normal operations of the University", and urges the UI Administration to do the right thing and "respect the right of graduate employees to organize and bargain collectively."

This is not the first time the Illinois General Assembly has supported the GEO in its struggle to win democracy. The House of Representatives, in 1999, passed a bill that would have clarified graduate employee rights and allowed for a binding union election. The bill, HB 1208, was never voted on in the Senate.

[To read the full text of House Resolution 0522, click here.]