University Pulls One From Union-Busting Handbook – Freezes Grad Wages

It came to the attention of the GEO this week that the university has frozen wages for Fall 2006 pending finalization of a new contract with GEO--in other words, no raise for this year until we finish the contract or negotiate a side agreement.

Freezing wages is a standard bargaining tactic by the administration. During the last contract negotiations in 2004, the university used this as leverage to have us quickly agree to a wage and fee structure. They want either to coerce us to agree quickly to a low wage increase or publicly blame GEO for the absence of a raise. The proposal that the university currently has on the table calls for NO guaranteed wage increase ever and NO guaranteed minimum stipend ever.

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Departments have begun to send out assistanceship contract letters--many in English received theirs two days ago via US Mail. These letters state that wages are frozen due to the GEO negotiations. Don't believe that the university is forbidden from providing wage increases while bargaining a contract. The university is free at any time to give wage increases to its employees, especially if it values their work.

We'd like people to know that this is a standard tactic, and if, like many of us, you are annoyed that the administration is pulling this, we can together find ways to pressure them to do otherwise.

If you have any questions, comments, or ideas, or if you'd like to get involved, please contact the GEO office (geo@shout.net , 344-8283) or go to the Members Forum to further explore this issue.