Click here for a printable PDF version of this bulletin.
HR finally makes a counterproposal: “No.”
HR finally gave us counterproposals on Friday, which can be summarized in a word: “No.” For some crucial proposals — paying MSW students for their labor, funding an unarmed, non-police crisis response program, and protecting workers from ICE — HR went further, suggesting our proposals were permissive and potentially illegal, and telling us to drop them entirely.
Grad workers got to work in caucus, generating questions about the University’s thinking. HR was generally unable to explain its own positions. They could provide no basis for why they suggested our proposals were illegal, declined to say whether the University thinks it is important for workers to know their rights, had no suggestions for an immunocompromised GSI whose students refused to mask, and could not explain why they thought a “non-police” program is actually policing.
“For a University that claims to care about equity and inclusion to not recognize that the work MSW students do in our field placements is work feels very two-faced. It hurts.”
– ange, School of Social Work
| GEO Proposal | UM Counterproposal |
| Payments 4 Placements | No; told us to drop this |
| Unarmed, non-police crisis response program | No; told us to drop this |
| Immigration protections | No; told us to drop this |
| GSI can require masks in class | No |
| GSIs can pivot online if they feel unsafe | No |
| Ensure classrooms have high-quality air filters | No |
| Negotiate with GEO before changing COVID policies | No |
| Remove discriminatory felony disclosure requirement | No |
| Ensure workers’ access to in-person union orientations | No |
Time to turn up the heat
If the open bargaining fight has taught us anything, it’s that only action from workers produces changes in HR’s position. We know that workers acting together in large numbers can force the University to cave, even on “permissive” subjects that they are not legally required to bargain with us about. In 2016-17, GEO members forced the University to create DEI GSSA positions that HR had refused to bargain over for months. It’s time to show the University that we will not accept a “no” to affordability and dignity for all grad workers!
All hands on Deck! GMM, Wed. Jan 25 (6-8pm)
To discuss how to take the fight forward, come to the General Membership Meeting on January 25 at Rackham Amphitheatre and on Zoom. Pizza will be provided. RSVP at bit.ly/GEOEvents. We’ll be more prepared to fight the more of us show up – so don’t forget to bring a friend (or two)!
“I am curious to see if they’re at all willing to cultivate an understanding of workers’ safety that reflects our need for a safety response that isn’t based on armed police. We need the police out of our classrooms!”
– Laura, Romance Languages and Literature
Bargaining takes place every Friday. Sign up to attend sessions at http://bit.ly/bargsesh.
Comments are closed