Bargaining Update - Last Week

Sorry for the delay getting the bargaining update from last week up. We are all busy with amazing GEU actions like the GEU Bargaining Block Party that had LOTS and LOTS of people out! We're still tallying numbers, but we handed out over 100 shirts, ran out of food twice, and even signed up a few new members! Thank you for coming out, for telling your friends and colleagues, and for following us here, on facebook, and on twitter.

We're having a March for THIS on Friday, starting at 12:30 at the Rock and wandering over to the Hannah Admin building. Look for updates (especially if you have to join us a little late) on social media to see where we're at, and join us! Its supposed to be BEAUTIFUL on Friday, so you have no excuses!

Bargaining update:
We met with MSU twice last week, on Tuesday and Thursday. Most importantly, MSU finally unveiled the 'magic spreadsheet' they were using to calculate our potential wage increases and healthcare compensation. Unfortunately, its not all that magical. It is the same spreadsheet they used during our bargaining negotiations 4 years ago, using numbers they told us about in previous bargaining sessions. Our team was sadly underwhelmed. Basically, they say they will give us 2% to add to our overall compensation package, to be divided how we see fit. Here's what's in it:

1) to keep the healthcare we have presently, we have to abandon ALL of our economic platform. No dependent coverage subsidies, no salary increases, no bus passes, no compensation for SEVIS, international, or engineering fees, no childcare subsidies. The small amount left over from what they anticipate healthcare to eat the 2% increase they are willing to give us would look like this on our paychecks byweekly:

Next year:
 level 1 level 2 level 3

¼ time $0.987 $1.092 $1.14

½ time $1.974 $2.184 $2.28

¾ time $2.961 $3.276 $3.42

At year 4:
level 1 level 2 level 3

¼ time   $3.965 $4.38 $4.58

½ time $7.93 $8.77 $9.16

¾ time $11.89 $13.16 $13.74


So, we have been waiting months to see this proposal from MSU. They do bargaining for a living. And they gave us this. A terrible compensation increase that in no way keeps us competitive as a research institution, forces us to choose between increased cost of living compensation and healthcare (which we SHOULD NOT HAVE TO CHOOSE BETWEEN). And worst of all, they lied and said they were working hard on a model that they, in reality, didn't change since the last time we bargained a contract with them in 2011. We could have had this information to you as early as January, but it was intentionally withheld from us, the volunteer leaders of the bargaining team, under the guise of paid MSU staffers 'working hard to figure it out'.

You may notice that you didn't get a wage increase in your appointment letters. That's because we haven't negotiated that yet. You ARE ALREADY BEING IMPACTED by the changes that could happen in this bargaining session. You have received an appointment letter because its something GEU bargained for in previous bargaining years.

If you haven't yet come out to an event to support the GEU, or even if you have, YOU NEED TO COME OUT THIS FRIDAY! The only way your contract will have reasonable healthcare and wages is if YOU come out and take up space. Unfortunately, MSU doesn't respond to us at the bargaining table unless we come out to events like the March for THIS on Friday. Thanks to your efforts with the Bargaining Block Party, we expect good things in our bargaining sessions this week, but we have to keep showing our support to the bargaining team to see gains in the next couple weeks. RSVP your commitment to Friday's march on our facebook page:

Solidarity!