COGS News
July 2003
New Contract In Effect July 1
Our fourth contract went into effect on July 1, 2003. It is a good contract. First and foremost, it gives us our best overall economic package, an impressive feat in a time of sustained budget crisis. It protects our health care benefits against our employer’s attempt to diminish them, making UIGradCare one of the best health plans on campus. And finally, it guarantees partial tuition scholarships for all members of the bargaining unit, stopping the salary erosion caused by recent tuition increases.
All members of the bargaining unit – graduate employees with at least a 25% appointment – will benefit from the tuition scholarship plan. In the upcoming academic year, those enrolled for 9 credit hours will receive $375 in both the fall and spring semesters; those enrolled for fewer hours will receive tuition scholarships that have been prorated accordingly. In the 2004-2005 academic year, our tuition scholarships will increase, and graduate employees with 9 credit hours will receive $750 in both the fall and spring semesters.
The support of a strong COGS membership made this contract possible. There is, as you know, strength in numbers, and for the past few years, we’ve had more members than ever. What’s more, we have members who contribute their time and effort attending meetings and rallies, signing petitions and completing surveys, and serving as stewards or committee members. Our future success depends on such informed and active members. If you haven’t already, please join us in these activities as we continue to fight for improvements in our salaries, tuition scholarships, health benefits, and other forms of graduate employee support.
Get to know your contract! It’s the document by which we protect our rights and responsibilities as graduate employees. Your work departments will provide you with a hard copy in the fall. In the meantime, visit our web site to read a posted copy. And as always, please don’t hesitate to contact the COGS office with any questions you may have about the contract.
-- Dana Quartana, President
District Council in the Dells
Shop reports, resolutions and health care top discussions
The carnival-like atmosphere of the Wisconsin Dells on the summer solstice betrayed the serious nature of UE’s District 11 Council held June 20-22. UE locals, from South Dakota to Illinois, met to exchange shop reports, listen to district president Carl Rosen, and to submit resolutions for the upcoming UE National Convention this August in Pittsburgh. Although much of the meeting was doom and gloom, Rosen noted a bright point about Bush’s presidency and corporate scandal with the saying, “Bad boss, good for union.”
The delegation from UE Local 896/COGS consisted of COGS President Dana Quartana, Chief Steward Kevin Esch, Delegates Dan Gilliland and Jake Wedemeyer, and UE Field Organizer, Ryan Downing. The delegation listened to grim shop reports about changing working conditions and problems faced by locals throughout the district. The primary focus of this district council were the nine resolutions submitted by locals and the district office for the UE National Convention. Resolutions included proposals to protect Social Security and to oppose privatization of public services and facilities, to oppose attacks on our civil liberties, to promote rank and file democracy, “to organize the unorganized,” and to invest the nation’s peace dividend in jobs, domestic infrastructure, and people, instead of squandering it on endless war.
COGS submitted a resolution demanding the end of attacks on public education. Included in the resolution were calls for federal funding for all children and a restructuring of federal, state, and local taxation so that all public schools are funded fairly regardless of the wealth of the residents in the school district. The resolution also calls for ending the corporatization of academia, ending the privatization of school services, and banning private school vouchers funded by taxpayers. COGS submitted a second resolution demanding “An Economy For All,” which proposes making full employment the top priority of Congress instead of structuring the economy to benefit the corporate elite, with tax cuts for the wealthy. The resolution calls on other UE locals and districts to promote jobs and new federal tax and spending priorities by supporting organizations like Good Jobs First, the Citizens’ Budget Campaign, National Priorities Project, and United for a Fair Economy.
-- Jake Wedemeyer, District Council Delegate
One highlight of the June District Council was a seminar on the Labor Party’s “single-payer” solution to the current nationwide health care crisis. Under the plan, all US citizens, including the 44 million currently uninsured, would receive free health insurance through a government administered plan like Medicare. Unlike socialized medicine where the government owns and operates hospitals, and employs doctors and other health care workers, the single-payer plan would only provide health insurance. The plan would save billions by ending the for-profit orientation of the health insurance industry, instead using former profits to extend coverage to everyone. The plan would cut soaring costs by offering one simple, comprehensive plan thereby eliminating the costly administration of thousands of byzantine policies by insurance giants wasting billions competing against each other. To pay for the plan, the Labor Party proposes a payroll tax of 5.5% on employers, who already pay upwards of 15% to cover health insurance for their employees. Health care has become the main issue of contention in contract negotiations across the country as employers are trying to force workers to shoulder yet even more of the cost. Only a dream to some Americans, the single-payer plan resembles successful national health insurance programs in other countries like Canada.
To learn more about the details of the Labor Party’s plan, stop by the COGS office to check out the materials Jake and Dan brought back from the conference or visit the Just Health Care website: http://www.justhealthcare.org/whatis.html
To find out about UE’s commitment to promoting health care for all, read the plan of action report from the Policy Action Committee available at http://www.ranknfile-ue.org/policy_ac.html
-- Dan Gilliland, Jake Wedemeyer, District Council Delegates
Warning - Watch Wellmark!
This summer COGS received several emails from alarmed graduate employees about their insurance coverage. At the bargaining table earlier this year, we were able to fight off a long list of proposed reductions to our health care package. However, it appears that Wellmark has not been uniformly adhering to our contractual benefits. We have recently requested information about Wellmark’s benefit policies from the University’s Human Resources department and are closely examining possible violations of our agreement.
Given that Wellmark CEO John Forsythe has recently been installed as a member of the Iowa Board of Regents, our future battles over safeguarding our insurance will likely become only more fraught. So pay close attention to your co-pay amounts on your insurance bills, and visit our website (www.cogs.org) or call the COGS office (337-5074) if you have concerns.
--Kevin Esch, Campus Chief Steward
Buy Books, Support Unions!
Graduate students buy a lot of books. These purchases give us considerable power with which to support fellow union workers. Unfortunately, most conventional and online booksellers are unorganized and often hostile to unions. Amazon, Borders, and Barnes and Noble all have shameful records when it comes to labor rights.
One bright spot in the sea of labor failures in the book industry is International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Local 5 in Portland, Oregon. Local 5 represents workers at Powell’s Books. Through the strength of their union contract, the local has negotiated a profit-sharing agreement by which workers receive 10 percent of all sales from the website at www.powellsunion.com. Orders over $50 also receive free shipping when placed through this portal. For more information on Local 5, see www.ilwulocal5.com.
Vandals Deface the Ludlow Massacre Memorial
In May, vandals defaced a monument commemorating a massacre of striking miners and their families at Ludlow, Colorado, in April 1914. The United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) erected the monument, which features statues of a miner next to his wife and child, in 1917. Vandals removed the heads of the miner and wife as well as one of the woman’s arms. The monument was unguarded and away from main roads.
Local union officials suspect that the culprits are affiliated with the area’s anti-union employers. Union steelworkers have been engaged in a bitter struggle against Oregon Steel in Pueblo.
The UMWA held its annual celebration at the monument on June 29. As word about the vandalism spread among the labor community, activists from across the nation and around the world came to show their support. Speakers included local union leaders, a state representative, a spokesperson for Sen. Nighthorse Campbell, academics, and Cecil Roberts, president of the UMWA. One observer estimated the crowd at over four hundred strong. The event’s success was largely the result of online organizing. When both the vandalism and the memorial service went unnoticed in the mainstream press, organizers turned to an email campaign to get the message out.
The Ludlow Massacre was part of the Colorado coal strike of 1913-14. Since coal operators controlled company housing, miners and their families were forced to live in tent colonies during a strike. Fearing an attack by the Colorado National Guard and the operator’s armed agents, they dug pits inside the tents for protection. On April 20, 1914, the National Guard and company thugs launched a particularly vicious attack at Ludlow. As many as seven miners were killed in the attack, and two women and eleven children died from suffocation after guardsmen intentionally set the tents on fire. Between 1913 and 1914, an estimated 66 members of the mining community lost their lives to violence.
The UMWA estimates that the cost of repairing the monument could run as high as $250,000. A resolution is expected to be brought to the July 15th General Membership Meeting pledging COGS’ support for the refurbishment of this monument.
--John McKerley, Labor Solidarity Chair
