The University and the Graduate Employees’ Organization met in a bargaining session Tuesday in order to continue negotiations over a new contract. According to the GEO, the University’s new offer includes a 2.5 percent wage increase and a $15 increase to health care provisions.

Brian Dolber, communications officer with the GEO and graduate student in the Institute of Communications Research, said the economic package is “completely insufficient.” He said that the contract offered is “another sign of disrespect that they’ve shown grad employees.”

Dolber said the health care plan offered is “the same plan with $15 extra; they essentially offered us three espressos.”

The University has come across as a “completely disrespectful institution that doesn’t care about students or employees, but only cares about their bottom line,” Dolber continued.

Robin Kaler, University spokesperson, said that the University is trying to provide the best package possible to the Graduate Employees.

“I think that the University has great respect for grad students,” Kaler said. “I think we have some of the greatest grad students in the world and all our students are of our highest priority.”

The GEO expects a wage with which graduate employees will be able to live comfortably. The proposal offered does not include a living wage by the University’s standard, Dolber said.

Andrew Kennis, graduate student in Communications, citing the 3.7 percent increase in cost of living adjustment in Champaign-Urbana, said “while the administration maintains that it’s a raise, in reality it’s not keeping up with the cost of living, and so it is actually a pay cut.”

“This is especially painful in light of the fact that dependency on (teaching assistants) for the overall teaching load has been increasing for a long time,” Kennis said.

Christopher Simeone, lead negotiator for the GEO and graduate student in the English Department, said the terms that the University has offered are not acceptable.

Kaler said that the University is working within its means.

“If you look at the packages offered with any other employee group, we’re trying to do the best we can with the resources we have available,” she said.

Simeone said that if the University wants to be competitive in attracting the best developing scholars, it must also be competitive with peer institutions in regards to graduate employees’ wages and benefits.

“The progress is that the University is trying to push for a settlement sooner rather than later,” he said.

There has not been enough movement by the University toward the GEO’s proposals, Simeone said. He said that while some movement is good, it has not been enough to come to an agreement.

The University must make concessions on key issues if a settlement is to be reached, he said.

“We can’t accept proposals that are regressive,” Simeone said.

The GEO’s proposal would be affordable if the graduate employees were properly prioritized, he said. The message that the GEO is receiving is that they’re not a priority, he added.

The University is doing its best to provide the best package given its resources, Kaler said.

“We’ve been at this since April 25, and we’re going to make sure that we get something that’s to our satisfaction and to our members’ satisfaction,” Simeone said.

The University has recognized the critical role of graduate students from day one, Kaler said.

Simeone said the next bargaining session will be December 13 at 1:00 PM.

Kaler said that if the GEO would have proposed an earlier meeting, the University would have been ready to do so.