Graduate Employees’ Organization

The Graduate Employees’ Organization, AFT/IFT Local 6300, AFL-CIO, The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, represents approximately 2,700 Teaching and Graduate Assistants on the UIUC Campus. The current GEO was founded in the spring of 1995. With an active presence in the community, the GEO works for high-quality and accessible public education in Illinois.

Furthermore, the GEO is the official venue through which TAs and GAs can negotiate with the University administration over our healthcare, wages, and other working conditions. The current contract can be found here.

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Who is eligible to participate in the GEO?

GEO membership is open to all graduate students, regardless of employment status.

All Teaching Assistants (TAs) and Graduate Assistants (GAs) pay 2% of their wages as dues to the Union regardless of whether they are members of the Union. Research Assistants (RAs) and Preprofessional Graduate Assistants voluntarily pay $3/month in dues to the Union. All others (Fellowship, hourly employees, unemployed) are not required to pay dues.

If you would like to join the GEO, please refer to the GEO website or contact our GEO committee (CJ Hillyard and Katie Worrall).