Dear members,
With the moving in process for the on campus student population started yesterday, it is hard to believe the spring semester is about to start in a week. UMass Amherst is anticipating 5,600 students on campus and numbers unknown for off campus students. If you are around the area, please be cautious and stay safe.
This week we have some critical union business to announce. TWO paid positions are open and need to be filled by election very soon. Please contact your reps if you want to learn more before you can nominate yourself. Meanwhile, due to the pandemic, because of the pandemic and many related challenges we did not form some of the committees we should have at the beginning of the fall semester. It is very important that we have rank and file participation in the running of the union. Please help your reps fulfil the bylaws by nominating yourself.
🔺 Calling for 2 people for Finance Committee🔺
We are in need of the two volunteer positions along with the newly elected interim Mobilization Coordinator to help drafting our budget. Please nominate yourself or other GEO members by emailing steering. The Finance Committee is responsible for communicating with the Local 2322 Finance Committee, attending Joint Council meetings, drafting the annual budget for the unit, and preparing requisitions for the Joint Council. The annual budget for the unit will be presented at the first membership meeting of the spring semester and passed by a simple majority.
Election by “Zoom poll” function at the first Membership Meeting, Feb 12
Note that this schedule is already delayed due to the pandemic but with your help we can have a budget early this semester.
🔺 Calling for 5 people for Election Committee🔺
Learning from the 2020 presidential election, we know how important it is to have a just and fair election. Now it is your opportunity to make sure the election is run impartially within our union. Nominations are open upto Feb 12 for Election Committee (5 positions, volunteer).
Election by “Zoom poll” function at the first Membership Meeting, Feb 12.
The tasks of the Elections Committee will be (1) running an online election (with guidance of UAW 2322 rep) in Feb, and (2) running regular GEO Officers and Steering election in April/May.
🔺 TWO PAID POSITIONS OPEN🔺
The aforementioned Election committee will conduct election for the following positions by online ballot on ElectionBuddy under the supervision of UAW 2322 rep Patrick Burke. Please nominate yourself or any GEO member by emailing steering. Full job descriptions in detail here.
-
Election for a Bargaining Committee Member:
This is a 10 hours/ week position with all GEO benefits. The duration of this appointment is as long as bargaining continues.
-
Election for a Interim Mobilization Coordinator:
Our former mobilization coordinator, Mary Dickman, has resigned. Given the timing and our regular officer positions election does not take place till April/May, we are looking for an interim position instead. The interim Mobilization Coordinator will start right after the election results and the last day of the appointment will be May 29th, 2021. This is a 20 hours/week position with all GEO benefits.
🔺 Health and Safety Update🔺
As some of you may already have seen a video update on our social media, GEO has started a multi-union Health and Safety Letter in an effort to put pressure on the administration to get our requested ventilation information and hire back our maintainers to make campus as safe as possible. Bargaining committee members worked diligently to get all the unions’ leadership to sign up on the letter. With the open letter and unfair labor practice filed on GEO end, we are hoping to hold the university responsible for its employees and health and safety of the community.
In addition, the video update is a new means we would like to try out in the upcoming months. Graduate Employee Organization is a transparent democratic run union and we want to make sure members have access to all the information. How to update our members in the most efficient way has always been a priority of the reps. Please make sure you follow us on our social media (Facebook: GEOUAW / Instagram: geo_uaw2322 ) for most up to date information.
🔺 Pay delay possible for TA-to-RA transitions 🔺
It has been brought to our attention that if a graduate employee switches the appointment from a TA position to a RA position (A TA position ends on January 2, yet the RA appointment wont start till January 17), the person will have a gap in pay of about a month. If transitioning from RA to teaching position, the person will get overlapping paychecks. To be clear, the total weeks worked and amount received will remain the same, no one will get less or more money. According to an informal consult with Labor relation, they can help communicate with your department to change your Spring contract start date if either if you want. If you or anyone you know is in this circumstance and would like to have some assistance, please reach out to us at geo.
🔺 Worth Attending: Labor Notes/WMALF Virtual Troublemakers School🔺
The Western MA Area Labor Federation is partnering with Labor Notes to offer a Troublemakers School – we HIGHLY recommend going to this, it’s run by fantastic people who literally wrote the book on organizing.They aim to build labor power and solidarity in Western MA from the Worcester Hills to the Berkshires. Includes: Organizing Skills Workshops: Beating Apathy; Turning an Issue into a Campaign; Race and Labor; What Is a Rank-and-File Union?; Fighting Austerity and Winning; and MORE. Fri evening Feb 5, and daytime Feb 6 and 7. The price is $5-$10-$15 (sliding scale). You will be reimbursed for attending these great workshops!!! A member driven local is a union invested in members – just write to geo for details on reimbursement. All details/registration HERE.
