Below are the candidate statements for the two candidates running for the Bargaining Committee Research and Proposal Coordinator position. The ballot for this election will go live at 12 pm EST and close February 28th at 12 pm EST. Please feel free to reach out to us at geo@umass.edu if you have issues accessing your ballot.
Denny Bobot
Dear GEO Membership,
My name is Denny Bobot (they/them/theirs), and I have been an active Graduate Employee Organization (GEO) since fall 2014. I moved to Amherst, MA from Wisconsin to pursue a Ph.D. in Social Justice Education. My experiences working as a GEO member have amplified my values for equitable working conditions and honed my skill for organizing collectives for advocacy. As someone who holds multiple marginalized identities, I have navigated dozens of campus systems in order to advocate for myself and my students, including Disability Services, Dean of Students, University Health Services (UHS) and Patient Services, various cultural centers, and more. More recently, as an Assistant Residence Director within the Residence Life division of SACL, I recognized a gross inequity in the pay benefits of live-on graduate assistants and the broader live-off graduate assistants (GAs). I believe the global community of laborers cannot be free of oppression without holding profiteers accountable to workers’ rights and fair working conditions, and my organizing and advocacy for colleagues and students reflects these beliefs and values.
Through almost a decade of active GEO membership, I have had the pleasure of engaging in multiple bargaining periods at University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass). Through the years, I have experienced membership in a multitude of capacities: as a Teaching Associate (TO) as well as several Student Affairs Campus Life (SACL) GAs, including Residential Life graduate assistantships that require staff to live-on as part of the job functionality. This broad range of experience of graduate assistantships enables my ability to envision creative approaches to researching and drafting relevant and practical proposals. Furthermore, this multi-dimensional positionality will promote an argument style at the bargaining table that is considerate of the diverse GEO membership. In my earlier years (2016-2018), I formally supported the Residential Life membership by engaging in the stewardship process and connecting members with information and resources needed to fully engage the benefits of the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). Since then, I informally liaised with Residence Life membership and connected colleagues with GEO officers who can provide support.
In the past, the live-on GAs of Residential Life have had a challenging time getting their unique works’ needs addressed at the bargaining table. In summer 2023, I took the opportunity to (re)introduce myself at the first GEO membership meeting at the Residential Life summer training and announced that I would be hosting a regular bargaining sub-committee to discuss unique needs of the Residential Life members. I was able to plan for and organize biweekly meetings for all of fall 2023. Through this process, I was able to engage 7-8 live-on members on a regular basis garnering information regarding the needs of the members in this specific SACL division. In these sub-committee meetings, members were able to identify two Residential Life stewards, a process for membership organizing, a list of membership needs, and drafts of several proposals to bring to the bargaining table that specifically address the pay disparity as well as live-on working conditions. I was able to partner with the GEO general Bargaining Committee to initiate the drafting process. Several members drafted various proposals that are currently being argued and negotiated at the 2023-2026 bargaining table. As a result of this member organizing and proposal drafting, I am extremely hopeful that the demands presented by the Residential Life bargaining subcommittee will be successful in addressing the pay disparities between members who have to live-on campus as a requirement of their job description and members who are not required to live on.
Thank you for taking the time to consider my candidacy for GEO’s Bargaining Research & Proposal Coordinator officer position.
Please take care,
Denny Bobot
Isaac Sundin
My name is Isaac Sundin and I am a master’s student in Labor Studies working as a TA. Since last Fall, I have been serving as an at large member of the bargaining committee where I have gained firsthand experience with the bargaining process and detailed knowledge of the bargaining committee’s work. I drafted our proposed changes to the grievance procedure (Article 31), aligning it with corresponding changes in Articles 20, 22, 23, and 48. I have worked with others to draft and revise other articles, including Food Security (Article 37) and Family Issues (Article 40). As an active member of the bargaining committee, I have been involved in strategizing about which articles to pass and how to counter Admin’s bargaining strategy. I have also been active in the COLA working group, the subcommittee responsible for researching and drafting our economic proposals (wages, housing stipend, etc). Additionally, part of my work has focused on the bargaining committee’s member-facing messaging, like the social media bargaining updates and the COLA FAQ document. As Bargaining Committee Research & Proposal Coordinator, I will continue and expand upon this work.
I have also been involved in building the Contract Action Team, the ad hoc committee focused on organizing throughout all departments to increase membership involvement and win our contract campaign. Through walkthroughs and phone banking, I have helped build a communication network to inform members about bargaining, assess members’ needs, and mobilize for key events. As a Bargaining Committee Research & Proposal Coordinator, I will continue to align GEO’s most active organizing body (CAT) with the bargaining committee’s strategy— and vice versa. I see this position as more than a research and drafting position; it is also an organizing position. Consulting workers through an organized network is essential to keeping our contract proposals in line with members’ needs and wants. I believe that the only way to win the contract we need as graduate student workers is by organizing on the ground. I intend to continue that work as Bargaining Committee Research & Proposal Coordinator!
In solidarity,
Isaac Sundin
