Dear Members,

In the last week there was an outpouring of community support for the evicted ARDs and the GoFundMe goal was met; the funds are now being sent over to those in need. We would like to remind the UMass administration that it was the responsibility of the university to take care of its employees, which has failed to provide them with even the bare minimum required for a residential position: a stable roof over one’s head with acceptable health and safety conditions. The overwhelmingly POC grad workers (who often have families as well) should have been made to endure this dehumanizing process. This fundraiser has also caused UMass to come under some public scrutiny, as press outlets got in touch with GEO leadership after reading this story. You read the official GEO press release here.

We had our first Membership Meeting of 2021 last Friday, and made many big strides. First, welcome to our new Elections Committee and Finance Committee! Looking forward to having a fair and impartial election of the open positions, and a budget for this year. Full summary below.

Bargaining, Vote of No Confidence in the UMass Administration!

The current status of Impact Bargaining was discussed, celebrating the fact that our work and persistence has pushed Admin to offer to accept (1) the housing waiver for residential GEO members and (2) the childcare fund ($30,000) and home tech fund ($30,000) – the bargaining committee is working on a response to send this week, moving towards a settlement to impact bargaining, hopefully very soon.

In the following discussion, members talked about university enforcement practices regarding the lockdown: students are seen partying and the Admin is in denial about it. While there is general condemnation of the frats, UMass is really accountable for the recent COVID spike and the draconian measures that had to be put in place to contain it. There was a lot of member energy to take a strong position against the Administration’s complete mismanagement. GEO Membership passed a vote of no confidence in the leadership that UMass Administration have shown in the past 2 weeks since the return to campus. If you want to share your views on this vote of no confidence or take this position further into action, please get in touch asap with Organizing Committee orgcomm

Elections Committee results

81/90 participants present voted, and elected Quaram Robinson (Q): 80% votes, Oriana Riley: 73%, John Wright (JC): 70%, John Amante: 57%, Quinnehtukqut McLamore: 49%. Shoutout to other nominees Patricia Hartland, Natalie Daifotis, Albert Williams, Amanda Suzzi.

Finance Committee results

Patrick Malone (PJ) and Nina Donaldson nominees for 2 positions, elected by acclamation.

Joint Council Representatives (6 seats)

These are reps to one governing body of the UAW Local 2322. The final vote on anything is always done by membership, but Local membership meetings are not that frequent, so Joint Council makes a LOT of very important decisions, including hiring, budgeting, vision, and events. The membership has voted to extend the nomination period up to the next GEO Membership Meeting March 12. Current sitting reps are Will Chaney, Marwa Atef Amer. New nominees are Charlotte Chase and Amanda Suzzi. Please think about nominating yourself, we need at least 4 more nominations to fill the 6 seats; write to geo for questions about why the Joint Council is important.

• Bilgesu Sumer brought a call for solidarity for ongoing protests for academic freedom in Istanbul, Turkey. Membership approved GEO’s official endorsement (attached).

• Michael Kowalchuk brought a call for GEO leadership and members to sign on to support Trade Unionists for Justice in Denver protesting the police murder of Elijah McClain (no one charged, but 6 lead organizers for justice arrested on made up felony charges of attempted kidnapping as organizers surrounded a police dept). Trade Unionists 4 Justice which calls for these charges to be dropped. Please visit that page, and you can sign on as an individual too. National Committee For Justice in Denver has a documentary on this.

• Approved funds for raffle prizes ($100 Stop and Shop gift cards) as a way to use money we would otherwise use for catering in-person events. Every membership meeting and stewards assembly will now have this raffle draw.

• Abolition Committee: Sean Gordon gave an update; this comm. started meeting last summer and is rooted in black liberation and indigenous sovereignty, with the goal to get police out of the unions and reallocate funds from UMPD to student support services. Meetings are Thursday afternoons 12:30-1:30. Contact abolition. Core of 4-5 people coordinating with 30 participating members. Check out the Abolition Committee Statement (attached) and Solidarity and contact form.

In solidarity, Dora and Jyoti, Co-Chairs

Union Solidarity Statement for Bogazici.pdf

Abolition Committee Statement Nov 13 2020.pdf