September 5, 2020 — Union leadership is in consensus: The time for a strike is now.
Our campus is in an uproar. Undergraduates and faculty are mobilizing against the administration, who are more unpopular than they’ve ever been. Other groups on campus are looking to GEO for leadership in the fight for a safe and just campus reopening.
Our – for robust testing, the unconditional option to teach remotely, for fewer cops on campus, for protections for international students and parents/caregivers, and for degree timeline & funding extensions – are more relevant and important than ever. We have the momentum to pull off a potentially historic labor action, and to play a small part in the uprisings against police violence and racism going on all over the country.
A strike always carries risks, particularly in such unprecedented conditions. However, the officers of this union believe that the current situation reduces such risks – particularly the National American Federation of Teachers’ strike authorization, the widespread support of undergraduate students and faculty, and the unpopularity of the University’s reopening plans. Indeed, we feel that not striking puts our most vulnerable siblings at far greater risk.
Given the favorability of these conditions, we the officers of this union strongly recommend voting to strike.
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