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What is AGE?
AGE is the Association of Graduate Employees, the union for graduate assistants at UIS. It is a chapter of the University Professionals of Illinois, Local 4100, IFT, AFT.
How long has AGE been around?
AGE was founded by three graduate assistants – Bill Davidson, Leslie Rossman, and Keith Taylor in 2004. In 2006, GAs voted 40-1 to form a union to negotiate a contract for GAs.
Who is included in AGE?
All graduate and teaching assistants are included in AGE. Research assistants (RAs) and pre-professional graduate assistants (PGAs) are not covered by the contract, but AGE encourages all graduate students, regardless of employment, to help us in our mission of making UIS a better place to work and learn.
YOU ARE AGE. A union is the sum of its members. A strong and active membership is necessary for a union to protect its members. Please take the time to get involved in AGE and make our voice heard.
What’s with all the letters? What are UPI, IFT and AFT?
UPI Local 4100 is the premier union for higher education in Illinois. UPI represents 2500 employees at seven different campuses across the state. UPI has represented clerical, technical and service workers at UIS for many years.
As a chapter of UPI, AGE has a powerful voice when it comes to higher education funding, and years of experience to help AGE members defend their rights and improve their working conditions.
UPI is a local of the Illinois Federation of Teachers, which represents 90,000 educators, public employees, and support personnel across the state, including 10,000 in higher education. The IFT is one of the strongest state organizations of the American Federation of Teachers, a 1.3-million-member
Do other graduate employees in Illinois have unions, too?
YES! Over 4000 graduate employees in Illinois, and close to 50,000 across the USA, have unions. The oldest union in the country is the Teaching Assistants Association at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, which has been a union since 1968.
In Illinois, the Graduate Employees’ Organization at UIUC has been around since 1993, and its sister union at UIC finally won union recognition in 2004.
You can find out about other graduate employee unions in the country from the AFT’s Higher Education website – www.aft.org/higher_ed - or the Coalition of Graduate Employee Unions – www.cgeu.org.
When will AGE have a contract?
Soon. To find out more about negotiations, check the news section of this website, or contact us.
How will being a graduate assistant change when we have a contract?
In many ways it won’t change at all. If you get along with your supervisor, if your workload isn’t excessive, and if you have the training, equipment and supplies you need to do your job, you may not even the notice the union (except for the raise in your paycheck!).
However, if you have problems, then AGE is here for you.
How do I deal with a supervisor issue or other work-related problem?
The first step, as always, is to try to deal with it informally. AGE is here to help graduate employees, but we strongly encourage you to try to resolve problems informally first by speaking with your supervisor.
If that doesn’t seem to help, or you have a problem you feel you cannot discuss with your supervisor, follow these tips:
- WRITE everything down: Keep emails or documents that might be relevant to your problem. If you had a conversation with a supervisor that caused you concern, write down your recollections of the event as soon as possible.
- TALK to the union: use the contact information on this website to let someone from AGE know about the problem.
- DON’T let your anger get the best of you: cursing out your supervisor might be fun for a minute, but it will make it harder to resolve the problem in the long run.
- READ your contract: know your rights, and it will always be easier to defend them.
What will I have to pay in terms of dues? Why should I pay them?
Union dues will run about $175/year, and they support the work of the union. Union dues are what enable the union to fight for its members. They pay for legal assistance if we need it. They pay for training for union members so we can better stand up for our rights. They pay for our lobbying efforts to fight for better funding for higher education.
And, don’t forget, it was the union dues of school bus drivers, kindergarten teachers, and highway engineers, as part of the AFT, that helped us form AGE to begin with. Union dues are our contribution to the labor movement, our way of acknowledging that we are part of something larger than ourselves.
Can I get in trouble for being active in the union?
NO. You have every right to belong to the union. AGE is an official collective bargaining agent under the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Act. Discrimination or retaliation against union members or union supporters is a crime.
Can international students be involved in the union?
YES! International students have every right to be involved in the union. Joining the union does not affect your visa status, and you have the same rights as anyone else to be active and involved.
AGE needs international students to be involved. International GAs are close to 40% of our membership, and, unlike domestic students, they cannot work off-campus or get student loans to cover the costs of living in Springfield. AGE is a powerful voice for international students at UIS. Get involved and help make a difference!
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