Filed under: Get Involved
Is “Solidarity Forever” still stuck in your head? Then come to the membership meeting on Monday! Get a behind the scenes look at bargaining, hear about developments in the new contract, nominate new people to the GEO leadership, and send our contract out for ratification! You don’t have to be teaching right now to vote, associate members are welcome too!!!
Membership Meeting – Monday March 31st
7:00 pm – Michigan League Ballroom
This is also your chance to get involved on still unresolved issues like the 10 term rule, and to help us sort out domestic partner issues. Come join the fun!
Filed under: Get Involved
GEO and the administration have tentatively settled on an agreement, we will not be walking out tomorrow! Here are the highlights:
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6.2 in year 1, 3.5 in year 2 and 3
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Full tuition waiver for 0.2 and above
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Wage parity for low fractions
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No premium health care for all fractions
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An additional 5 mental health care visits (from 25 to 30)
- 6 weeks parental leave for birth moms, and 3 for non birth parents
Good work everyone! We have a mass membership meeting on March 31st at 7:00 in the Michigan League Ballroom, where we can discuss the offer and decide whether to send out a ballot for ratification. I’m so proud of everyone who participated in the walk out, especially in SNRE. In a department with little job security, we were well represented on the picket line!
I’m a picketer signed up for a shift. Where do I go? What
do I do?
GEO will set up a Strike Central Nervous System (Strike CNS!) on
the Diag outside of Haven Hall. You’ll see a table full of
supplies, picket signs, and volunteer staffers. Please come to
this location TEN minutes before your shift begins. You’ll sign
in, get a picket sign, a name tag, and some other supplies. Then,
we’ll either have you wait until a critical mass of picketers
arrives and send you off to a picket line, or simply send you as
soon as you arrive. Once you arrive at your picket line, you’ll
check in with the GEO Strike Captain (look for someone wearing a
funny hat), who will make sure you have everything you need to get
started. And then, join the line!
If you want to picket at a particular place, let us know that when
you arrive, and we’ll do our best to accommodate.
I don’t remember my shift. Can you remind me what it is?
We actually have too many picket commitments to get our data entry
done for this task (a very good problem to have!), so we ask that
if you are in doubt, please consider the 8am shift on both days,
as these are the shifts with the fewest commitments at this point.
I’d like to picket with people I know. How do I accomplish
this?
Picketing with friends is a great thing! Our best advice is to
show up at Strike CNS at the same time as the people with whom
you’d like to picket. If you are joining someone who is already on
a picket line, show up at Strike CNS and we’ll do our best to
accommodate sending you there. We’re trying to keep track of who
is where so we know the strength of each line at any given time;
coming to our central location will help us out, but if you just
end up on a line, no one will turn you away!
I’m picketing all day! Won’t I get hungry? Thirsty? Cold?
Rained on? A Sore Throat?
We thought about all of these things!
FOOD AND DRINK:
On the lines, we’ll have snacks available – fruit and trail mix –
as well as water bottles, coffee and hot water for tea. For lunch
during the Tuesday’s midday shift, thanks to a generous donation
of food and cooking power from a member of a UAW local union,
we’ll be bringing hot food to the various picket lines (awesome
rice and beans in pitas), and to the Diag for the midday rally. Of
course, you should feel free to bring what you need to keep
yourself full and powered up!
BAD WEATHER, SORE THROATS, and FEET!
Please prepare for rain and snow. We’ll have trash bags to keep
people covered up from rain. We also suggest wearing layers, hats,
scarves and gloves, as well as very comfortable shoes. We’ll have
water bottles to keep your throats lubricated, but again, feel
free to bring your own as well. We’ll also have lozenges, pain
killers, and band-aids on hand.
REST:
Take breaks if you need to. The most important thing you can do is
rest your voice and feet if you over overexerting yourself. Let
your strike captain know that you need a break; you could
volunteer to pass out handbills to those going into buildings.
If you need an indoor break, you may also head to Café Ambrosia,
located at 326 Maynard Street (between Liberty and William, a
block west of State Street), where the owner Ed has generously
lent the entire basement to GEO for this very purpose.
BATHROOMS:
We’ve got portapotties scattered near picket lines for people to
take bathroom breaks; Café Ambrosia is also an available spot.
What are other ways I can show my support?
One really important thing you can do is thank the folks at Café
Ambrosia for being an integral, crucial part of this walkout. Ed,
the owner, as well as Jimmy, Matt, and other staff at the café are
giving us the entire basement of the cafe to use for whatever we
need- making coffee, providing storage, keeping phones charged,
warming food and picketers up on a regular basis, and providing
general moral support. PLEASE stop by Ambrosia whenever you can to
thank Ed and others, and leave a generous tip if you are able to.
AND, make Ambrosia your exclusive coffee source for the rest of
your time in Ann Arbor.
Other things you can do?
Bring friends with you to the walkout.
Encourage those who are leaving the lines to stay! Talk to
everyone you know about why you’re participating and welcome
people to be part of the fight.
Filed under: GSI Resources
I teach two lab sections this week, both on Tuesday. On Wednesday, the other GSI does the same.
We talked about it together and with our professor, and decided that we would hold class. We’ve sent out a ctool announcement with some accomodations:
- we booked the room for an extra drop-in after the walkout.
- email submission of assignments so people don’t have to enter Dana.
- extra office hours to help explain the lab material after the walkout.
I hope that will also make it clear that we’re not expecting people to show up, and won’t sanction those who don’t.
I’ve taken some flack for the hypocrisy of holding class while otherwise supporting the action. Frankly I don’t mind. The idea of not teaching the class got explored and for a couple of reasons it isn’t in the cards. I’m thrilled that my other classes are getting formally or informally canceled, but in my own case I’d much rather do some things than nothing to support the work stoppage. I’m not inclined to make the perfect the enemy of the good.
So I’ll see you on the picket lines. And in class. Or in make-up sections.
What are other people doing?
Hugh
Filed under: Faculty and Staff Resources
Some faculty members may recall their glory days as graduate students and may want to support their GSIs. We welcome your help! Here is a list of things you can do to support GEO. If you think of more, please feel free to add in the comments section.
- Educate students! Some undergraduates aren’t well informed about labor issues or may not know much about academic contract negotiations.
- Allow students to make up assignments and tests if they choose not to cross picket lines
- Offer make up instruction at an alternate time to students who don’t wish to cross the picket line
- Support your GSIs if they choose to participate in the job action
- Inform your colleagues about the issues. Faculty are busy, and some may not know the current proposals on the table. Others may be curious about the GEO response to the letters they have received from Dean Terry McDonald and Dean Phil Hanlon
- Take a shift on the picket line with your graduate students. Your presence is a big morale boost!
Whatever you decide to do, we appreciate your support. We look forward to getting a fair contract settled as soon as possible so we can focus doing what we love: teaching!
Get Out On the Picket Line!
Whether you’re an early bird or a night owl, there’s a picket shift for you (Morning, Lunch, Afternoon). If you are super awesome, you can join us ALL DAY LONG! Sign up using the Online Sign Up Sheet
If you’re feeling spontaneous, you can just report to the GEO command center in the Diag, and they will hand you a picket sign and send you where you are needed most.
Filed under: Walk Out Information
No: 177
Yes: 727
The walk out is authorized.
