-------------------------------------------- Graduate Assistants United eNewsletter Vol. 1, No. 1 March 9, 2002 -------------------------------------------- You are being sent this newsletter because GAU represents you in employment matters as a Graduate Assistant at the University of Florida. Subscribe/unsubscribe information is at the end of this email. ========================================= IN THIS ISSUE: Health Benefits Rally April 1 Membership Meeting Tuesday March 19 Minimum Stipend Grievance Bargaining Update Student Government Elections Part-time Union Position ========================================= HEALTH BENEFITS RALLY APRIL 1 Although 10 of the University's 12 peer institutions provide health benefits for graduate assistants, UF still does not. On April 1, GAU will be having another rally to bring public attention to the lack of health benefits for graduate assistants at UF. The rally in the Fall semester yielded 150 participants, 7 radio interviews, and 2 TV interviews. This semester's event will be held at the Plaza of the Americas, Monday, April 1, from 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM. In order to encourage participation, GAU will again give away as a door prize to one graduate assistant, one semester of premiums for the Student Health Insurance Plan B. In addition, other health-related door prizes will be awarded to any attendee, whether or not the attendee is a graduate assistant. Bring your whole class! The program begins at 12:20 PM, with the drawing at 12:45 PM. Your attendance is very important to the success of this event in our attempt to bring attention to our lack of health benefits for graduate assistants. MEMBERSHIP MEETING MARCH 19 The next general membership meeting is Tuesday, March 19, at 7:00 PM, in 219 Dauer Hall. Please attend! Student government candidates will present their platforms, and we will also hold elections for a Secretary and UFF Senators. Pizza and refreshments will be provided at 6:30 PM. MINIMUM STIPEND GRIEVANCE GAU filed a grievance last semester on behalf of 417 graduate assistants who were not being paid at the minimum stipend. A complete list of those affected by this grievance is at http://grove.ufl.edu/~goeddeke/minstpgr.pdf The total dollar amount of this grievance is $33,797.82. We are currently at Step 3 of the grievance procedure, at the Chancellor's office. We should have a decision within a couple of weeks. If it weren't for the efforts of GAU, UF would not have a minimum stipend. GAU takes the minimum stipend seriously, and intends to do everything in its power to enforce the contract. BARGAINING UPDATE In a normal bargaining year, we would have the contract all wrapped up by October. This year, because of the State budget crunch, our negotiations have been delayed many times by the Board of Education. Finally, we did hold negotiations, but the results were not good. We are currently at impasse, but do try to continue to negotiate an agreement. The Board only offered us an unspecified performance bonus to be paid at the end of the year, with the dollar amount and eligibility criteria unspecified. A maximum of only 35% of the graduate assistants would be eligible for this bonus. GAU is currently asking for a 3% pay raise (or $300, whichever is greater), a $1,150 increase in the minimum stipend, and paid Student Health Insurance Plan B premiums. To date, the Board of Education has not responded to our latest proposal. STUDENT GOVERNMENT ELECTIONS Historically, GAU has not endorsed candidates for Student Government President. We do, however, offer the parties the opportunity to present their platforms to the membership. The parties will be at our March 19 membership meeting, and will have several minutes each to state their platforms and answer questions. With the increasing power of the University Board of Trustees, and the Student Government President having a seat on the Board, the Student Government elections are becoming more important for GAU and graduate assistants. Here are links to two of the parties, if you would like to see their platforms: http://www.geocities.com/dvda_party/ and http://www.vote-ignite.com/ The Swamp party did not respond to our request for a link to their website. PART-TIME UNION POSITION There may be a part-time position open with United Faculty of Florida. If you are interested, please email Jon Reiskind at jon@zoo.ufl.edu ----------------------------------------------------------- You are being sent this email because Graduate Assistants United represents you in University employment matters. If you would like to be removed from this eNewsletter list, please respond to this email with the word "REMOVE" in the subject line. If you would like to be added to the list, send an email to goeddeke@ufl.edu -----------------------------------------------------------