Dear fellow workers,
This is an update from your bargaining committee to let you know that as of Tuesday 6/20/23 we have officially sent the administration a demand to begin bargaining in anticipation of our current contracts expiration in August 2023. Our new chancellor was also a recipient of this email and we will follow up to make sure he sits down with GEO in his first month on the job. The demand letter is attached to this email for your review.
Once the administration responds to our demand to bargain, we will work with them to establish a regular schedule of meetings with the administration’s bargaining committee where we negotiate the terms of our new contract. These bargaining sessions will be advertised via email ahead of time and all GEO members are invited to attend them to observe and participate in the collective bargaining process. Certain bargaining sessions will be critical for workers to show up in great numbers to signal that we have the full support of our membership and are willing to mobilize our numbers to make our voices heard. In between these meetings, your bargaining committee will continue research to address worker needs, drafting contract proposals & counter-proposals, talking to graduate students, and holding our own weekly committee meetings. Our Bargaining Committee meets in person in the GEO office in Campus Center 917 from 10am-12pm on Wednesdays through the summer, with a zoom option available upon request! You are invited to attend this meeting and participate in any of the above activities, email bargaining@geouaw.org if you’d like to participate.
Our first Bargaining Event is an All-Day Bargaining Symposium & Picnic on Saturday July 22nd. Please put it in your calendars! This will be an in-person and remote event co-hosted by the Organizing Committee and Bargaining Committee featuring delicious food from local restaurants, guest speakers, trainings, and fun! Please contact us via our email below if you are interested in helping organize the in-person or online event.
The GEO Bargaining Committee spent the Spring semester attending bargaining trainings, studying our current contract, and reviewing results of the Issues Survey to identify the most urgent needs of our graduate student community. This summer we have begun drafting contract proposals to address those needs while also planning an escalation campaign. Your input and participation in these ongoing tasks is enthusiastically welcome.
Regardless of how brilliant our arguments are at the negotiating table, the only real leverages we have as workers are our numbers and our willingness to organize in concrete actions for these demands. Thus, we will need your support at collective actions such as rallies and sit-ins, as well as other events. Please be on the lookout for Bargaining Update emails every week for information about upcoming actions and opportunities to get involved in the bargaining process.
The University wants us to ‘Be Revolutionary’ – so lets live up to that!
In Solidarity,
Your Bargaining Committee
Jessica Antonia Casillas Scott, PhD Student in History, jessica@geouaw.org
Chris Claypool, PhD Candidate in Organismic & Evolutionary Biology, chris@geouaw.org
Danielle Bradley, MFA Candidate for Poets and Writers, danielle@geouaw.org
Andre Kenneth Chase Randall, PhD Student in Computer Sciences, chase@geouaw.org
Kaleb Karolak, PhD Student in Economics, kkarolak@geouaw.org
Shady Lawendy, PhD Student in Economics, shady@geouaw.org
Brenda Quintana, Masters Student in Labor Studies, brenda@geouaw.org
