Wandtv.com, NewsCenter17, StormCenter17, Central Illinois News-U of I teaching assistants may go back to work Wed.
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Teaching assistants at the U of I may go back to work Wednesday. They’ve been on strike since 8:00 a.m. Monday after months of negotiations, leaving some classes without a teacher.
“The picket lines are lifted. There are no longer struck buildings on campus, but it would be premature for the Strike Committee to suspend the strike without first discussing the contract with the general membership,” said Peter Campbell, Communications Officer for the GEO. “They spent two rainy days protesting out on the Quad, but now there's a more cheerful noise coming from the GEO after what they call successful contract negotiations with the U of I. “I am both overjoyed at the prospect of taking this tentative agreement to our membership and I am so happy and so grateful for the enormous amount of labor that was put in by hundreds and even thousands of people over the past seven months.”
A spokeswoman from the U of I is confident that the GEO will accept the tentative agreement.
It's a three-year contract that guarantees graduate and teaching assistants won't have their tuition waivers reduced, which was the main sticking point for the GEO.
“They showed their labor has a huge impact on the University. This is why it happens. We tried everything for seven months and we were unsuccessful, until the workers threaten to go on strike,” said Kerry Pimblott, Graduate Student Lead Negotiator.
The tentative contract goes in front of the entire GEO membership Tuesday night. Members of the strike team will also decide Tuesday night if they want to suspend the strike and head back to work Wednesday.
