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University of Illinois Graduate Assistants Approve Contract

URBANA, Ill. — University of Illinois graduate assistants have voted to approve a contract agreement with the school, following a strike that forced cancellation of several hundred classes.

Graduate Employees Organization co-president Gus Wood tells The (Champaign) News-Gazette that the contract was ratified Friday, ending a strike that started Feb. 26 after nearly a year of unsuccessful negotiations.

He says 98 percent of voting members were in favor. The contract now goes to the university’s board of trustees for consideration.

A tentative deal between the school and the GEO members was announced last week.

Union leaders have said the five-year contract includes three years of wage increases, expanded health coverage and guaranteed tuition waivers for any teaching assistant or graduate assistant.

The union represents about 2,700 teaching assistants and administrative graduate assistants.

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