COGS News
November 2004
COGS Members Must Mobilize in Support of Bargaining Priorities
On November 9, representatives of the UI Board of Regents presented a contract proposal that does not offer graduate employees much to stave off the rising cost of education.
For example, while COGS demands a 6% salary increase to stem the effects of inflation, the Regents are offering no salary increase at all in their proposal. In addition, the Board wants to limit future increases to employees returning to the same department under the same appointment and get rid of mandatory minimum salary increases after 7 years.
Though the Regents want to add a double spouse credit to our health benefits (a benefit that actually already exists), they also want to revise other provisions that would push more health care costs on to graduate employees.
Included in the Regents' proposal is a change to our current drug card coverage that would implement a 3-tier program that could make many prescription drugs prohibitively expensive for graduate employees. The proposal also calls for an increase of the room and board deductible for hospital stays from $75 to $125.
Most importantly, the Board is only offering a 4% increase to tuition scholarships when COGS members are demanding full tuition remission - something other public institutions are offering their employees.
These important parts of the Regents' proposal illustrate a lack of commitment to making the education and support of graduate employees a priority. If the Board's proposal were to go into effect tomorrow, TAs and RAs at the University would have the same problem meeting many of their most basic needs.
The Board's contract proposal does very little to improve grad employee's lives. In fact, many of the provisions make our lives harder by pushing more of a financial load onto us.
The only way we are going to get a fair contract is if we fight for it! That means COGS' members must mobilize and make it clear to the Board of Regents that they must take responsibility for the education and training of their graduate employees. Otherwise, recruiting top graduate students will be more difficult and as a consequence, the quality of education at the University will suffer.
We all have something at stake in this next contract and can't afford to sit by while the University tries to put more of a financial burden on us. This is unacceptable. All COGS members must do their part to educate themselves and non-members about the importance of the union's contract proposals and how the University has responded to our demands. Most of all, COGS members must make their presence felt when closed door bargaining begins Nov. 19th.
To begin mobilizing its members, COGS will hold a rally addressing the Regents' proposals on Wednesday, December 1st, 12:30-1:15 at the Cleary Walkway (between the Pappajohn Building and Trowbridge Hall). All COGS members should encourage their colleagues to attend and show their support for the union's bargaining priorities. To get a fair contract, the time to act is now!
--Patrick Oray, American Studies, COGS President
