COGS News
October 2004
Member Activism needed as Contract Negotiations Begin
B&G will be pursuing four priorities; full tuition remission, wage increases, increased employer contributions to healthcare, and expanded health care coverage that includes a comprehensive vision program for grad employees.
At the end of this month, COGS' Bargaining and Grievance Committee will present the UI Board of Regents with proposals ratified by union members for negotiation of grad employees' 2005-2007 contract.
The B&G will officially present the proposals on Tuesday, October 26 at 5:00pm in the IMU.
In order to maintain the most leverage, it is imperative that COGS' members be aware of the issues important to the well being of UI RAs and TAs and are active in supporting COGS' fight for a contract that reflects the best interests of University grad employees.
Earlier this month, COGS members ratified contract proposals prioritized according to information gleaned from bargaining surveys distributed last spring.
The four priorities the B&G will pursue according to the surveys are: full tuition remission; wage increases; increased employer contributions to healthcare; expanded health care coverage that includes a comprehensive vision program for grad employees.
It is expected that the Board of Regents will do everything in its power to push more of the cost of education onto grad employees already stretched to their financial limits, citing Iowa's current budget crisis as justification for its poor fiscal policies.
We at COGS feel that as a public institution funded by tax dollars, the University must prioritize the education and training of its graduate employees - particularly as it is TAs and RAs who do the lion's share of teaching and research done at this institution!
At the opening of negotiations for our 2003-2005 contract, over 100 COGS members accompanied the B&G to present the union's bargaining proposals to the Board of Regents - a show of force that led to the best ever financial and benefits package for grad employees at the UI.
As state funding for education seems to be falling farther down on lawmakers' list of priorities we'll be facing a tougher battle not only to secure already hard won victories, but to make sure the University lives up to its purported commitment to its graduate employees.
It is only through the active and informed engagement of its members that COGS can win a fair contract. Be there on Tuesday, October 26 at 5:00pm in the IMU and support the union working in your best interests!--Patrick Oray, American Studies, COGS President
Steward Report: Tackling Sick Leave and What You Can Do
The College of Liberal Arts & Sciences is pushing a new policy - well, it's not actually new, it's the same policy COGS put the brakes on last year.
Dean Curto is telling DEOs that the paid leave and sick leave provisions of your contract are nothing more than a protection from termination, and that they music require you to make up time you missed when you were sick, or on leave, by working for your department for the number of hours you were out.
This is false. I false as opposed to true. Dean Curto knows it; the DEOs know it; you know it. If everyone knows it's wrong, why is he doing it again? I wish I knew. The COGS contract contains no requirement for make-up work due to paid sick leave - that's why it's called paid sick leave.
Because TAs are considered junior faculty for the purposes of instruction, the University Operations Manual applies to TAs in the same way it applies to faculty.
The Operations Manual says that people who teach students have a responsibility as professional employees to make sure their students don't suffer for their absences. But you already knew this. Dean Curto thinks this means your department should require you to do something extra. It doesn't.
If you're working to make sure you're class doesn't fall behind because of your absence, then you're doing what you're supposed to be doing. In fact, you cannot meet your professional responsibility by making copies, fetching coffee, or substituting for someone else's class for free. But you already knew this.
Dean Curto's policy is an attempt at exploitation (getting free work out of you) disguised as harmless paternalism (teaching you how to be a professional). If you follow along, you're going to hurt your students, your department, and yourself.
There are a few open grievances on this issue right now, and hopefully we'll get this nonsense taken care of soon. Past experience, though, shows us this policy is like the Cheshire Cat - you think it's gone, then "poof," there it is again, grinning at you.
If someone if your department tells you that you owe a certain number of hours because of a sick day, you tell them you're spending that time on your students, not someone else's. If they don't like that answer, you call me.
--Chris Burgess, English, Campus Chief Steward
UI Family Experiences the Benefits of Having COGS on Campus
Extended stay in the hospital racks up over $45,000 in medical expenses but the Godley Family only pays $1700 with their GradCare plan
Catherine Vivian is now a beautiful, happy little girl who is growing fast.
She was born on April 9th, 2004 at the University Hospital, but complications in labor meant that she could not immediately breathe well on her own. She was admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).
She is now free of health problems, but this is after days on various machines to help her breathe and ten days on IV antibiotics to help her fight off pulmonary infections.
Her parents, Heather and Nathan Godley, were able to concentrate on the health of their daughter instead of the mounting health care costs. The family had health insurance that is available to all graduate students called GradCare.
"It meant that we didn't have to worry about cost when Catherine was in the hospital," Nathan Godley said. "We could just concentrate on enjoying time to bond with her and watching her get stronger and healthier. Without that peace of mind [having GradCare], we would not have been able to focus completely on Catherine and her health."
They feel the COGS dues are a small amount to pay at the Union works hard to protect these benefits. Under the current GradCare coverage graduate students and their families are limited to the UIHC hospitals, but the Godley's were very happy with the excellent care that was received.
The bill for Catherine's extended hospital stay reached over $45,000. But with GradCare, it was kept to an affordable level. The Godley family only paid the $1700 per family out-of-pocket maximum.
"Room and board alone at the NICU is several thousand dollars a day," Nathan Godley said, "and you really see that money at work with cost of physicians' time and medications and the total bill for such specialized care can be very substantial."
Nathan Godley was with the University before COGS had a presence on campus. The only health coverage that was available was the Student Health Insurance Plan, which had far worse coverage. His salary during his first year was only $10,500, with no tuition remission. Now, he thanks COGS for the many improvements including GradCare, tuition scholarships, and increased pay.
"We get back the dues we pay to COGS many times over in increased salaries and in lowered health care costs when we or our family members get sick," he said.
The Godley family says in order to keep those benefits it's important to keep up the COGS membership.
"With decreasing state funding, the Regents and University will try to roll back labor costs, especially health care," he said. "A strong, membership-led union is the only effective way to keep our work conditions from declining back to the bad old days."
