The University and Graduate Employees’ Organization met for the first time with a federal mediator Friday as they worked to draft a new contract. This was the 22nd time the two groups have met since April.

GEO spokesperson Stephanie Seawell said little progress toward an agreement was made, but the mediator was brought up to speed by both sides about what proposals are still on the table.

The GEO will be taking a strike authorization vote Monday, which will run for four days to give members a chance to cast their votes. On Nov. 16, the votes will be counted. If the vote authorizes a strike, the organization will form a strike committee and will only authorize a strike if necessary.

GEO leaders have stated that they would rather not strike — and University officials feel the same.

“The University doesn’t want a strike and believes a strike isn’t necessary as long as the parties continue to negotiate in good faith and work with the federal mediator,” said University spokeswoman Robin Kaler in an email. “We’re preparing for the possibility of a strike, with the goal of minimizing any impact on our undergraduate students.”

Three more federal mediation sessions have been scheduled. The next session will take place Wednesday.

Seawell said healthcare, wages, tuition wavers and some issues of access and equality are still being discussed.

The University does not have any specific terms they are trying to obtain in negotiations, Kaler said.

“We want an agreement that’s fair, that reflects the difficult economic times we’re in, and that appropriately reflects the rights and interests of each side,” she said.

Tuition waivers, a protection won in the GEO’s 2009 strike, is an issue of contention, Seawell said.

“We want (to) negotiate any changes that the administration has (to) tuition waivers at the bargaining table,” she said.

These waivers are the difference between whether top-tier graduate students attend the University or not, Seawell said. Without these waivers, graduate employees find themselves “paying the University for the privilege of working for the University,” said Erin Heath, a member of the GEO bargaining team.

“This is an issue of how much quality education there will be at the University of Illinois because let’s be clear, if you don’t have top-tier graduate students, you are not going to have top-tier faculty,” Seawell said. “Faculty want to work with top-tier graduate students, and so what this will have is a trickle-down effect all the way to undergrads, and we see this as an issue also because undergrad tuition is continually raising so much.”

The University position remains that the tuition waivers awarded to current graduate students when they first entered their program will remain as long as these stay in the same degree program in good academic standing and make adequate progress to their degrees, Kaler said.

“However, the University wants to preserve its existing management right to alter tuition waiver support for future graduate students not yet admitted to the U of I,” she said.

An issue of what Seawell calls “access and equality” is the expansion of bereavement leave to include more members, as the current contract only includes GEO members who are married to their partner or significant other.

“What we’re looking for is a way to make sure that those members, if their partner passes away, could go and attend a funeral without incurring penalties,” Seawell said. “They’d have to make up the work or whatnot, but their job wouldn’t be in jeopardy.”

The University’s contract negotiations with the GEO have been ongoing since April, but the pattern and timing of these negotiations closely mirror the 2009 contract negotiations, Kaler said.

“It’s very similar to negotiations with other unions on our campus — it’s common that contracts expire before a new agreement is reached,” she said. “When that happens, both sides generally continue to abide by the terms of the expired agreement until a new agreement is reached.”

Tyler can be reached at [email protected].