Update: August 2023

On August 22nd, GEO members voted to authorize a tentative agreement with UM on the 2023-2026 contract. We cannot express enough gratitude to everyone who gave to our hardship fund–you made this contract campaign possible. We are now focusing our efforts on getting backpay to striking workers who sacrificed a paycheck for our collective wins. Stay tuned!

In March 2023, we went on strike to secure a fair contract. Instead of negotiating with us in good faith, management retaliated by withholding the April paycheck of striking workers. Even when we get paid, grads often face economic hardship. Since launching the strike fund, we have distributed over $322k in direct aid to grad workers most in need.

The university administration still refuses to offer meaningful solutions to the serious problems confronting its workforce. Should grad student workers authorize a continuation of the strike this fall, we will likely risk losing our pay again. Your donation to this strike fund will make a real difference in grad workers’ ability to sustain the fight to make a U-M for All.

If you believe that grad workers deserve fair pay, better transgender and mental healthcare, protections from sexual harassment, and better working conditions, please donate today! The university has an endowment of $17 billion and an army of lawyers — to win, we need your support. All donations will go to the Graduate Employees’ Organization’s Strike Fund account and will be used to support workers.

GEO alumni and community allies can also support the union’s work by making a one-time or recurring contribution of solidarity dues (using Option 2 below). Graduate students are working hard to keep membership up after being hit with anti-union laws like Right to Work, but we still need to make up for the revenue we lost when we lost the ability to charge service fees.

All graduate students at the University of Michigan benefit from the strong contract that grad workers have negotiated over the past several decades. You can still financially contribute to your union in the semesters you are not employed as a Graduate Student Instructor (GSI) or Graduate Student Staff Assistant (GSSA) by paying solidarity dues (using Option 1 below). If you do not have PayPal, you can still make a one-time contribution using Option 2 below.

Solidarity dues go a long way towards helping grad workers in our fight for a stronger contract and a more equitable campus community.

You have two options for contributing solidarity dues, outlined below!

Sign up to pay solidarity dues in four monthly installments (i.e., for one term). You may renew each term. The suggested amounts are equivalent to your regular GSI/GSSA fraction dues minus the affiliation dues we pay to our parent union in the terms when you are teaching.

Anyone can pay solidarity dues on a monthly, ongoing basis or make a one-time contribution. Simply click the check box on our PayPal form to make your solidarity dues an ongoing monthly contribution. Note that to make one-time contributions, you just need a credit card/debit card.

If you don’t already have one, creating a PayPal account takes about two minutes. Note that donations are not tax-deductible. If you have any questions about Solidarity Dues, please e-mail solidaritydues@geo3550.org.