Bargaining News – Graduate Employees' Organization (GEO)

Bargaining Bulletin 14: 1% won’t pay the rent!

May 6, 2026

Check out bargaining bulletin #14, in which a room full of GEO members and allies watched HR pass their 1.5-1.5-1.5% salary offer and insist that GSRAs be cut out of the bulk of protections afforded to GSIs. Read more below!
Bargaining Bulletin 13: HR is at the table—but are they bargaining?

April 27, 2026

We passed proposals around divestment and union rights on Friday. HR waited several hours to pass their own counterproposals to ours, with no substantive offers made. Read on to find out more!
Bargaining Bulletin 12: Please do your job, HR

April 19, 2026

What happened at Friday’s bargaining session? GEO passed several more proposals, with many stories and data from graduate workers to demonstrate why our proposals are needed. HR didn’t offer any proposals or counterproposals, stalled over GSRAs, and didn’t even ask us questions. Please do your job, HR!
Bargaining Bulletin 11: HR’s loophole! If you fire employees, they don’t need protections?!

April 12, 2026

At least according to HR at the table, defending Taubman College’s baseless firing of a graduate worker that led to them being detained by ICE. Read more below in Bulletin #11.
Bargaining Bulletin 10: GSIs teaching 2000 students. Class size caps now!

April 8, 2026

In Issue #10 – we pass class sizes, unfair hiring practices, and special conferences articles. Read more below!
Bargaining Bulletin 9: GSRAs in the union! Bargaining underway

March 30, 2026

Plus, we passed several articles at our second session with HR. The mediator didn’t even come! Read more in Bargaining Bulletin #9 below!
Bargaining Bulletin 8: We won open bargaining!!

March 23, 2026

At our first mediated session after the 28-day pause, HR conceded to open bargaining and we were able to pass several important proposals. Read more below!
Bargaining Bulletin 7: 28 days! Let’s get our sh*t together

February 17, 2026

Big updates to share: the Michigan Employment Relations Commission has ordered a 28-day pause. Read on to find out what grad workers will do in response!
Bargaining Bulletin 6: Grad workers say “ICE out!” HR shuts the door in our face!

February 9, 2026

Read Bulletin #6! This past week, grad workers prepared to present our ICE Off Campus demands — some of the most urgent issues on campus at present, and demands that resonate with workers in every job title.
Bargaining Bulletin 5: HR stalls over table placement and lack of name placards

February 2, 2026

HR Stalls Over Table Placement and Lack of Name Placards! Read more in the bulletin below: What happened at the table: HR refused, again, to meet us in-person on Friday, instead forcing us to communicate through the state-appointed mediator, Micki Czerniak. This week, we tried to pass our Salary article which demanded: a living wage…
Bargaining Bulletin 4: Temperatures drop to all-time low—but HR sinks even lower!

January 26, 2026

What did grad workers do when yet another week at the table went by with HR refusing to negotiate in person? They kept their cool, of course! Read all about January 23rd’s bargaining session in the 4th issue of the Bargaining Bulletin. Text-only version: Graduate Employees’ Organization Bargaining Bulletin Issue #4, January 26, 2026 Temperatures…
Bargaining Bulletin 3: HR won’t show up. We won’t back down.

December 17, 2025

Hot off the presses, it’s bargaining bulletin #3! Knowing that they can’t formally refuse open bargaining, HR has refused to bargain altogether, refusing to sit down at the table. Read more in the issue below!
Bargaining Bulletin 2: Flip-flop! HR refuses to bargain

November 24, 2025

Check out Issue #2 of our bargaining bulletin, featuring HR’s unwillingness to sit down at the table!
Bargaining Bulletin 1: Bargaining kicks off with a bang!

November 17, 2025

Hot off the presses (laptops), it’s the return of the GEO Bargaining Bulletin! Keep up to date with reports back from the bargaining table, as well as events and dates to know about as member organizers. The bulletin, as with all things GEO, is the hard work of member volunteers and will be released weekly.
Negotiation Bulletin #47: Grads Celebrate Historic Contract With a Vow to Keep Fighting for the Future

August 29, 2023

On August 25th, GEO members voted to ratify our new contract, with 97% voting for ratification. This officially ends GEO’s historic, 146-day strike for affordability and dignity. The 9-month campaign involved thousands of workers at every step of the way: from the platform development process, to the fight for open bargaining, to the strike, and…
GEO Members Vote to Reach Tentative Agreement

August 22, 2023

According to GEO President Jared Eno, “members’ decision to authorize the bargaining team to reach a tentative agreement reflects the major gains we’ve won in this campaign. With an effective 80% raise, harassment protections for all grad workers, and new benefits for parents, international students, and transgender workers, members are finally seeing months of striking…
Negotiation Bulletin #45: Grads Vote to Keep Fighting: Week of Discussion Leads to Comprehensive Counter-offer

August 11, 2023

At a mass meeting attended by nearly 500 people on Thursday, August 10, grad workers voted to respond to the Administration’s August 2 offer with a counter pushing for more gains. The meeting capped off a week of discussion, in which over 300 members participated in 32 department meetings, more than 14 working group meetings,…
Negotiation Bulletin #44: Grads Receive Comprehensive Offer From U-M; Vote to Respond to Offer by August 10

August 5, 2023

On Wednesday, August 2, 2023, University of Michigan Administration provided a comprehensive offer to graduate workers for their three-year employment contract starting in Fall 2023. The offer shows serious movement in key areas of GEO’s campaign platform, and include: (1) 20% raises on Ann Arbor campus; (2) the Rackham Plan in grad workers’ contract; (3)…
Board of Regents Offer to GEO – 08.02.2023

August 4, 2023

The following offer was sent by Democratic Board of Regents members to GEO President Jared Eno on August 2, 2023. The offer is “exploding” in that it would be withdrawn if GEO members did not ratify the proposal by August 4 at 5 PM. Given the complexities of a contract that affects thousands of graduate…
Negotiation Bulletin #43: Grads Make Serious Movement at Bargaining Table. HR Stalls.

July 18, 2023

At bargaining on July 13th, the 40th negotiation session between GEO and the administration, grad workers came ready to make movement with proposals related to workload (combined appointments), healthcare, international GSIs, and workplace disability accommodations. After a brief caucus with members, the Bargaining Team introduced proposals which would cap annual out-of-pocket costs for prescription drugs…