Ragini Jha (she/her) Co-Chair, rjha@geouaw.org

I am an international student from India, and am doing my PhD student in the Department of History. I joined GEO in my first year and have been active in the union across the years because I believe that organizing is the only way for us to protect our contractual wins and fight for more. Given the nature and pressures of our work, along with the economic crisis, university experiences can also be quite isolating. In my experience, the union has also been a social place of solidarity which we need to be able to foster a reliable community. At a time when we are facing a severe wage and housing crisis which has economic, academic, and mental health impacts on our lives, the administration has done little to alleviate the situation. The situation will only worsen with the anti-labour union and anti-debt relief court rulings. We are extremely lucky to have a historically strong graduate union. But in order to achieve not only better, but decent conditions of academic work and life, maintaining union strength is our only option. We have achieved important contract wins through our wins and we can do so again with our collective strength again. Overall, I am proud to be an active member of GEO alongside all of you. 

Hannah Ku (she/her), Co-Chair, hku@geouaw.org

Welcome to UMass! I’m a master’s student in the Department of History. I joined GEO not only for a sense of community, but also because I learned of all the amazing wins that our union won for its graduate workers. In the past year, I’ve been working with fellow graduate students on organizing efforts surrounding the housing crisis and the higher cost of living in the Amherst area. As this upcoming year is when we bargain for a new contract, increased and active participation within our union is essential. We can’t take our wins for granted and we deserve better. 

Emelia Miller (she/they), Membership Organizer, emiller@geouaw.org

I’m a PhD Candidate in the Philosophy Department. I have been a GEO member since I became a teaching assistant, and have maintained that membership ever since. As graduate students, our research contributes to the prestige and reputation of the university, and as graduate workers, our teaching, grading, laboratory work, and other labor make it possible for the university to function at all. I joined GEO because I believe that only organized labor has the power to make our lives as workers better and to protect us, as both workers and students, from exploitation by the university that both employs us and depends on what we do for its existence. I firmly believe that a strong union is necessary for workers to be able to afford housing, food, childcare, and ever-increasing bills. GEO is led by its members, and our strength as a union depends on the participation of graduate students from all backgrounds and departments within the university.

As an elected organizer, I serve the union membership by facilitating our collective ability to make the university listen to our demands for fair pay, adequate housing, safe and accessible academic and working environments in which we are protected from harassment, overwork, and exploitation. None of that is possible without the engagement and participation of GEO members like you. We are GEO, and the power of the union only exists with us.

Thomas Morrison (he/him), Membership Organizer, tmorrison@geouaw.org

I am a PhD student in the Philosophy department and a Membership Organizer with GEO. In Summer 2022, I was involved with recreating the Organizing Committee on campus, focusing on creating actions and empowering organizers to escalate our last bargaining campaign. Since then, I have been an active member on various committees. I have experience with activism and organizing since 2013, mainly in Kansas City and Chicago. I am proud to be a part of one of the country’s strongest graduate worker unions! And it is because of everyday grad workers like you. I am enormously inspired by the organizing that continues to be done by all kinds of grad workers in all kinds of departments on our campus. The strength of GEO ebbs and flows with the activity and care of regular members like you! So, come be radical and have some fun with us as we organize our workplace and change the material conditions of our lives for the better!

Antonis Gounalakis (he/him), Mobilization Coordinator, antonis@geouaw.org

I am an international PhD student from Greece in the Department of Economics. I have been a GEO member since my first year at UMass. We are extremely lucky to not only be one of the few graduate schools that have a union, but also to have a union that has been able to bargain and ratify strong contracts throughout the years, while gaining serious concessions from the University’s administration. Rising price levels, the exploding cost of rent, energy, gas and food, along with the looming recession make the case for a strong labor union that will fight for improving our material conditions (living wages, healthcare, childcare, time off etc). Academia can be pretty isolating, therefore it is important to know that we can rely on each other. As graduate employees our union is the only thing that protects us from our employer’s overreach and the only institution that will constantly fight to improve our working and living conditions.

Shane Henckel (they/them), Grievance Coordinator, shane@geouaw.org

I’m a Philosophy PhD Candidate at UMass, and the Grievance Coordinator for GEO. My job as GC is to make sure the university is upholding their end of the contract and treating grad workers with the dignity and respect we deserve, by using the grievance procedure to investigate and remedy reported contract violations– including harassment and discrimination, overwork and underpay, and health and safety issues. These violations should not be ignored! You are contractually and legally entitled to union representation and protected from retaliation for union activity. As you join us on campus as a fellow worker, it’s important to know your rights and protections and how to use the resources at your disposal to fight for them. 

I joined GEO as a direct means to help my fellow workers who are being exploited and mistreated. I’m proud and grateful to be part of such an active, established grad labor union and community. As a grad student, I see my colleagues struggling to afford bills and basic necessities, even as they’re routinely going above and beyond the call of their teaching and research duties. I’ve seen how the university administration constantly looks for ways to take away the rights, benefits, and protections that we’ve worked so hard for, while simultaneously demanding and taking credit for our labor. However, I’ve also witnessed firsthand that our union’s power is built on the participation, input, and energy of its members. For me, being a GEO member is an investment both in my own future and in the broader community of UMass grads which we’re a part of. 

Local Staff Reps

Danielle Kutner (she/her), UAW 2322 Union Rep, daniellek@uaw2322.org

I am a Philadelphia-based labor organizer and scholar who recently joined UAW 2322 as a union representative for GEO, PRO, and RAPMU alongside David Pritchard. Prior to joining UAW 2322, I served as a co-chair and a member of the bargaining committee for two years with the Goddard College Staff Union. During my time with the Goddard College Staff Union, we were able to foster an action-oriented, member-driven contract campaign that ended in a successful strike and robust successor contract. I joined UAW 2322 with the aim of continuing to advocate for and serve workers in higher education. Additionally, I am in the final stages of completing my PhD in philosophy at Villanova University. My research primarily focuses on the question of the relationship between social change and aesthetics in German critical theory. While I am currently based in Philadelphia, I will be moving to Western Massachusetts in September 2023 and look forward to meeting you!

David Pritchard (he/him), UAW 2322 Union Rep, david@uaw2322.org

I have been a member of UAW Local 2322 since 2011 when I enrolled in the MFA program for poetry at UMass Amherst. Since then, I have been a proud and enthusiastic rank-and-file member of GEO; a steward in the English department; a delegate from GEO to our local’s joint council; the grievance coordinator; a delegate from the Local to the UAW’s quadrennial Constitutional Convention in 2022; Financial Secretary of our Local; and finally and most recently, a union representative on Local 2322 staff! In this role I work with Danielle to represent GEO and two other shops at UMass Amherst: RAPMU (Resident Assistants and Peer Mentors Union) and PRO (Postdoctoral Researchers Organizing). My goal (and duty) is to help GEO members foster strong ties of solidarity with these shops, all of whom will be bargaining new contracts at the same time this year, and to link these struggles to the fights in the other 24 shops in Local 2322 (which span a variety of industries, including childcare, professional staff, human services, housekeeping, and more).