With GEO’s contract set to expire just over a week from now (March 1), the membership has stepped up visibility and discussions of contract priorities. At last night’s membership meeting, we voted to extend the contract’s coverage by two weeks (read the Daily article here, and we voted on a strike platform. The Rackham amphitheater was packed with excited GEO members:
We also staged a GRADE-IN in Haven Hall yesterday, which was a great success, showing faculty, students, and passersby that GEO makes this university work!
And, at last week’s VALENTINE’S DAY bargaining session, Students Organizing for Labor Equality (SOLE) presented GEO with a special show of solidarity:
The last BARGAINING SESSION before spring break is TODAY, from 11-5 in Palmer Commons, Great Lakes Room. Come show your solidarity!
Monthly Archives: February 2008
Big week at GEO: Grade-in, Membership Mtg, Bargaining!
For an update on bargaining and run-down of last week’s bargaining session, a new issue of At the Table is available for your information! See also Hugh Stimson’s most recent liveblogging from the bargaining room last week. As the newsletter notes, we are in the FINAL COUNTDOWN to our contract expiration date (March 1, 2008). That means that it’s super-important that YOU get involved NOW in GEO!!! You can do this with any (hopefully all) of the following activities happening this week:
MEMBERSHIP MEETING: Wednesday, February 20, 7 pm @ Rackham Amphitheater, 4th floor. We will be discussing possible job actions, discussing and voting on our strike platform, and voting on a short-term extension for our contract so that we can keep negotiating past March 1. This is the time to come learn about how bargaining is going, discuss with your fellow union members what your priorities are, and really have an impact on the future of GEO.
GRADE-IN FOR VISIBILITIY: Wednesday, February 20, 12:30-3:30, ground floor Haven Hall (near the posting wall). Make a visible statement that shows GEO’s strength and labor power to the university community! Contact Kathleen Tipler (ktipler@umich.edu) to sign up for a shift or for more information.
BARGAINING SESSION: Thursday, February 21, 11-4, Great Lakes Room of Palmer Commons. Our attendance shows the administration that we are serious about the proposals we’ve put forward for our next contract – stop by and stay for as little or as long as you can!
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Membership Meeting: February 20, 2008
Our Contract expires on March 1, 2008 and the Contract Campaign is heating up! At the next membership meeting, Wednesday February 20, 7 pm, Rackham Amphitheater (4th floor), we will:
1. Have a bargaining update
2. Vote on a strike platform
3. Begin discussion of possible job actions
4. Get psyched.
Your attendance is extremely important, so please come. Bring your friends, your opinions, and your questions.
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This week at GEO: Stews, Bargaining, Love
STEWARDS COUNCIL MEETING
Wednesday, February 13, 7 pm @ GEO. Everyone is welcome!!!
BARGAINING SESSION: NEGOTIATIONS AND LOVE SONGS
Thursday, February 14, 11 am – 4:30 pm, Palmer Commons, Great Lakes Room
A special Valentine’s Day edition of UM and GEO’s bargaining! Be sure to bring your red GEO t-shirt and chocolate for the bargaining team.
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The Milk of Administration Kindness
Tired of sour milk? Come to this week’s Bargaining Session: Thursday, 11-4:30, Palmer Commons, Great Lakes Room, and show the administration your support for 9%!
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At the Table (and in the room): Jan 31 bargaining update!
For in-depth coverage of the January 31 bargaining session between GEO and UM – at which UM summarily rejected nearly *all* of GEO’s contract proposals – check out this week’s At the Table. UM countered GEO’s Salaries proposal (Article 10) with a proposal for a 2% wage increase for each of the next 3 years, whereas GEO proposed increases of 9% for each of the next 3 years. At last week’s membership meeting, also debriefed in this week’s At the Table, GEO members discussed their frustration at UM’s lackluster counterproposals, affirming that wage increases, expanded healthcare access, and wage parity are among Union members’ top priorities.
For a perspective from a GEO member who was in the room at the Jan 31 session, check out SNRE student Hugh Stimson’s liveblogging. He puts UM’s responses in a nutshell:
Your request of pay raises in keeping with cost-of-living increase: No.
Your request for same-sex benefits: meh.
Your request for pay during required training events: No.
Your request for partial tuition waivers for small-fractional GSIs: No.
Your request for tuition waivers for quarter+ fraction GSIs: No.
Want to change some of those nos to yeses? Drop by bargaining sessions; come to a membership meeting. Stop by the office and make a few buttons. Stay involved in GEO decision-making processes, and talk to your friends and fellow GSIs about negotiations. YOUR support for YOUR union will win OUR contract!
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This week at GEO
STEWARDS MEETING
Wednesday, February 6, 7 pm @ GEO
If you missed last week’s membership meeting, or if you want to talk more about what happened there, think about coming to this week’s Stews meeting, open to all members.
BARGAINING SESSION
Thursday, February 7, 11-5 pm @ Palmer Commons
It’s another marathon bargaining session! Come for a few minutes or a few hours; any time you can show your support for GEO sends a clear message to the Administration that our members are committed to winning a great contract!
*Upcoming bargaining sessions are scheduled for February 14 and February 21, same time and place.