Statements and press releases

  • Board of Regents Offer to GEO – 08.02.2023

    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 The offer is “exploding” in that it would be withdrawn if GEO members did not ratify the proposal by August 4 at 5 PM.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…

  • Grad Workers Walk Out of Bargaining Session over HR’s Response to Latest U-M Sexual Harassment Scandal

    On Friday, June 23, graduate workers walked out of a bargaining session with the University of Michigan’s Human Resources (HR), after HR refused to take responsibility for the latest sexual harassment scandal involving Professor Robert Stephenson’s abuse of two graduate students, reported on by the Michigan Daily on June 7. During negotiations, Garima Singh, Co-Chair…

  • Another Harassment Scandal at the University of Michigan

    ANN ARBOR—On Wednesday, June 7th, 2023, the Michigan Daily published an investigation into allegations of sexual harassment and abuse perpetrated by Professor Robert Stephenson in the School of Nursing at the University of Michigan. Two graduate students who worked under Stephenson allege that he harassed and abused them over the course of several years. The…

  • Negotiation Bulletin #40: Grad Workers Withstand DPSS Intimidation

    Negotiation Bulletin #40: Grad Workers Withstand DPSS Intimidation

    This week, grad workers went public about facing intimidation from the campus cops over their participation in an action in April. On May 21st, at 6:30pm, DPSS police officer John Buehler (#167) approached a grad student in their home and attempted to intimidate them, threatening to file a report with the Washtenaw County prosecutor’s office…

  • Campus Cops Intimidate Grad Workers in Ann Arbor Michigan

    Campus Cops Intimidate Grad Workers in Ann Arbor Michigan

    On Sunday, May 21, 2023, at 6:30pm, DPSS police officer John Buehler (#167) approached a graduate student in GEO (AFT Local 3550) at their home. Buehler knocked on the door and the student answered, and the cop proceeded to attempt to intimidate the student as they stood in the doorway. Buehler threatened to file a…

  • Negotiation Bulletin #39: Pressure Mounts Over Falsified Grade Scandal

    Negotiation Bulletin #39: Pressure Mounts Over Falsified Grade Scandal

    The Administration’s decision to pressure department chairs and non-instructional staff to submit hundreds of falsified grades for striking GSIs is coming under increased scrutiny. This week, the story was picked up The Detroit News, Fox 2, Detroit Metro Times, and Inside Higher Ed. Regent Paul Brown is now calling for an investigation into the fake…

  • Negotiation Bulletin #38: Grads Confront Admin About Falsified Grades

    Negotiation Bulletin #38: Grads Confront Admin About Falsified Grades

    In a move that is unprecedented in the history of academic labor disputes, the U-M Administration has pressured department chairs and non-instructional staff into submitting falsified grades for the students of striking GSIs. In some cases, this means that students are getting As across the board. In other cases, students are getting lower grades than…

  • Graduate Workers Hold Press Conference in Front of UM Regents’ Meeting in Dearborn

    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASENews from Graduate Employees’ Organization 3550May 18th, 2023 Graduate Workers Hold Press Conference in Front of UM Regents’ Meeting in Dearborn DEARBORN—At the University of Michigan’s Regents’ Meeting at the Dearborn campus on Thursday, graduate workers gathered in response to moves by the University of Michigan administration to submit hundreds of falsified grades.…

  • University of Michigan Administration Fabricates Grades

    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE News from Graduate Employees’ Organization 3550 May 16th, 2023 University of Michigan Administration Fabricates Grades This week, University of Michigan Administration has begun entering fabricated grades for students of striking graduate workers. In departments such as English and Romance Languages — where graduate student instructors are typically the instructors of record (i.e.,…

  • Negotiation Bulletin #36: GEO Members Join May Day March in Detroit

    Negotiation Bulletin #36: GEO Members Join May Day March in Detroit

    On Monday, grad workers took to the streets of Detroit alongside comrades from the Teamsters, UAW, and other allied organizations to celebrate International Workers Day. Workers gathered to hear speeches, poetry and music from dozens of comrades from across Southeast Michigan, reminding us that our struggles are deeply interconnected. GEO president Jared Eno spoke to…

  • University of Michigan Administration Withholds April Pay from Grad Workers

    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE News from Graduate Employees’ Organization 3550 April 28th, 2023  University of Michigan Administration Withholds April Pay from Grad Workers On April 28th, the University of Michigan Administration officially withheld pay from graduate workers for the entire month of April. This move is unprecedented, marking the University’s first known decision to withhold pay…

  • UM President Calls Police to Detain Striking Graduate Workers, Docks Their April Pay, and Dines Out

    Today (4/20/23), after the University of Michigan announced plans to withhold pay from the April paychecks of striking Graduate Student Instructors (GSIs), University President Santa Ono sent campus police to shove graduate workers who were picketing in front of his SUV. One graduate worker was violently shoved onto the ground. Two graduate workers were detained…

  • University Administration Moves to Withhold Pay from Grad Workers

    For immediate release News from Graduate Employees Organization 3550  April 20, 2023 University Administration Moves to Withhold Pay from Grad Workers On April 20th, we received information suggesting that the University Administration will be withholding pay from graduate workers for the entire month of April. Graduate workers at the University of Michigan, organized in the…

  • Court Denies University’s Injunction against Graduate Workers

    For immediate release News from Graduate Employees Organization Local AFT 3550 April 10, 2023 Court Denies University’s Injunction against Graduate Workers ANN ARBOR—Today, in a major victory for striking graduate workers, unionized under the Graduate Employees Organization AFT Local 3550 (GEO), Judge Carol Kuhnke denied the University of Michigan’s request for an injunction. Graduate student…

  • U of M Graduate Workers Go on Strike

    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE News from Graduate Employees Organization 3550  March 28, 2023 ANN ARBOR – Graduate students workers with Graduate Employees’ Organization, AFT Michigan 3550, AFL-CIO at the University of Michigan called a strike Monday evening. The decision to strike is the culmination of five months of negotiations in which the University stonewalled graduate workers…

  • PRESS RELEASE: GEO Members vote to strike

    GEO members have voted overwhelmingly to strike, with 95% voting in favor of a work stoppage. After four months of being stonewalled at the bargaining table by the University of Michigan, Members of the Graduate Employees’ Organization AFT Local 3550 sent a clear message to the administration: We are serious about winning a living wage,…

  • GEO Members Overwhelmingly Vote to Initiate Strike Authorization Process

    Members of the Graduate Employees’ Organization (GEO) AFT Local 3550 held a General Membership Meeting on Monday, March 20, 2023 and voted to initiate the strike authorization process.  In a nearly unanimous decision, members voted overwhelmingly to begin the strike authorization process, taking GEO one step closer to striking. Of the approximately 750 members in…

  • GEO Members Overwhelmingly Vote to Initiate Strike Authorization Process

    Members of the Graduate Employees’ Organization (GEO) AFT Local 3550 held a General Membership Meeting on Monday, March 20, 2023 and voted to initiate the strike authorization process. In a nearly unanimous decision, members voted overwhelmingly to begin the strike authorization process, taking GEO one step closer to striking. Of the approximately 750 members in…

  • GEO Statement of Solidarity with New College of Florida

    The Graduate Employees’ Organization of the University of Michigan (AFT Local 3550) stands in solidarity with workers and students of New College of Florida against Governor Ron DeSantis’s brazen war on public higher education. DeSantis’ anti-Black, anti-queer, and anti-worker agenda seeks to remake New College, a haven for free thinking, into a Christian nationalist institution.…

  • Press Release: GEO Members fill the Regents’ Meeting; call on AHR to continue bargaining

    GEO Members fill the Regents’ Meeting; call on AHR to continue bargaining  December 8, 2022 Over 30 members of the Graduate Employees’ Organization (GEO – AFT Local 3550) packed the University of Michigan Regents’ Meeting on December 8 to deliver a united message: graduate workers want to bargain for affordability and dignity immediately with Academic…