Sections

Tentative agreement

GEO heads off permanent strike

While the rest of the University was sleeping at 2 a.m. yesterday, the administration and the Graduate Employees Organization were just finishing a 12-hour negotiation marathon. With the help of a state-appointed mediator, the two sides reached middle ground. GEO signed a tentative contract with the University -- but it cannot disclose the details because the organization must receive approval from 1,200 of its members via a mail-in vote.

Whew. Now students can breathe a sigh of relief -- the University will have classes, exams and grades. GEO will not go on a permanent strike.

But what's next?

Previews of the agreement hint at a compromise for both sides. The mandatory three-week training for international graduate student instructors was a major sticking point. Instructors coming from other countries are classified as students until the first day of classes when the University considers them actual employees. For three weeks, the GSIs are stuck here without lodging, funds or health insurance because the University refuses to take financial responsibility for the training it mandates. Reportedly, the University offered IGSIs a $500 fellowship as a concession -- but the University also wanted the fellowship left out of GEO's contract. If the bargain leaves IGSIs out of the contract, the University could wiggle out of its end whenever it seems convenient.

Overall wage packages were the other major point of contention. Originally, the University offered GEO a percentage increase to match LSA professors. Naturally, GEO members were unwilling to sign such a deal -- LSA wages are determined in the summer, and GEO would lose power to refuse once the two sides signed a contract. The union asked for a 10-percent raise the first year of the contract and an 8-percent wage increase per year for the next two. There have been hints that GEO settled for less than their original offer -- the University should meet the union halfway.

GEO deserves enormous credit for holding out from October to April, while the possibility of a strike hung over the University. Administrators continued to spurn GEO's requests. GEO continually agreed to extend its bargaining contracts to avoid a strike. GEO's reasonable approach to negotiation demonstrated commitment to undergraduate students.

Although GEO may not have received every demand it was fighting for, the University community should applaud them for not striking. A strike could have spelled disaster for students, professors and the administration. The deal the two sides struck ensures that the rest of the semester will run smoothly.

The University may offer its GSIs a better deal than most public universities. But the University lags miles behind private universities to which the administration is so fond of comparing the University of Michigan.

The important issue: Students at this university deserve quality graduate student instructors. GSIs deserve adequate compensation. Graduates and undergraduates alike are here for an education. It's up to the University to see that they get it -- no matter what other universities are doing.