GEO-UAW is a loud and proud unit of UAW Local 2322. GEO-UAW is the union for graduate employees at UMass Amherst, and is a unit of United Auto Workers Local 2322.
We represent teaching assistants, teaching associates, research assistants, project assistants, assistant residence directors, graduate interns, fellows, and trainees.
Operating as usual
Shame on Umass admins. Please contribute.
We are raising money to help offset the shock, discomfort, and disp… Anna-Claire Simpson needs your support for UMass Grad Workers & Families Suddenly Evicted
A number of UMass workers in the Residential Halls (Residence Directors and Assistant Residence Directors) were suddenly forced to move this past weekend with little notice. Workers live on campus with their families, children, etc and we want to help ease the stress and shock of the sudden displacement. We are raising some money to help those affected get what they need to make this experience a bit more bearable. Please chip in whatever you can: between the campus community, the Unions, and the broader community off campus.
https://www.gofundme.com/f/UMass-Grad-Workers-Families-Suddenly-Evicted?pc=fb_co_campmgmt_w&rcid=r01-161283710216-95978741d74f4310&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=p_lico%2Bshare-sheet&fbclid=IwAR2knTK40Y6f_cKCOelSD54pn2kuPrakPjfLj7zIu0lJ3PS54x0N7VnBEns
We are raising money to help offset the shock, discomfort, and disp… Anna-Claire Simpson needs your support for UMass Grad Workers & Families Suddenly Evicted
Solidarity with Boğaziçi University!
Their faculty and students are resisting the antidemocratic and anti-LGBTI+ political regime in Turkey.
Please read their open letter to the President of Turkey and share it to raise their voices.
BARGAINING UPDATES!!
Please send any feedback you have to the bargaining committee ([email protected]). We are hosting an open meeting for members to talk to each other, ask questions, and offer feedback:
Friday January 29, 2021
https://umass-amherst.zoom.us/j/92064894368
Video transcript:
Hello GEO members! This is Melanie [and David] from the GEO bargaining committee.
We wanted to let you know that, just a few minutes ago, the bargaining committee sent an important, but non-comprehensive proposal, or “Mini Deal” to the UMass administration for Spring Impact bargaining.
We are hoping to lock in some important wins that we have achieved at the bargaining table thus far. This way, these wins can benefit members soon, as the Spring Semester is starting just next week. These wins include a 60k childcare and technology fund and a continuation of some of the FMLA wins we got last semester.
This is not necessarily the end of Spring impact bargaining. First, the administration will likely come back with a counter, and we will likely have to make some hard decisions about what to fight for in order to come to an agreement with the University. Second, as this proposal is non-comprehensive, we have the right to continue bargaining over other issues which members are willing to fight for.
We urge you to get involved. To that end, we are having an impromptu Zoom membership meeting this Friday, January 29th, at 11am. We would love to hear your input on the mini-deal and on how we should move forward.
Hope to see you all soon!
Really good resource!
Please come learn more about our benefits related to getting your wisdom teeth done.
The UMass Unions sent a message to the BoT and Administration yesterday demanding greater transparency in making buildings on campus safer in minimizing the spread of COVID and a demand to bring back the furloughed maintainers and maintenance techs who do the work to make this campus safe!
Please nominate yourself or any GEO member by emailing [email protected]. Full job descriptions in detail here: https://www.geouaw.org/nominations-open-interim-mobilization-coord-bargaining-committee/
An exciting cross-union development - what the UMass Amherst unions are doing together to make ths campus safe and bring workers back to their jobs! @Sam Roach from Bargaining Committee reports
Happy Friday Everyone!
GEO Election Notice:
‼️Nominations open, deadline Feb 12‼️THIS IS A TEN HOURS A WEEK PAID POSITION!
Ian Busher, elected last year to serve on the Bargaining Committee, has moved on from UMass, leaving a position empty, so it’s time to elect a new person into this PAID position.
According to the bylaws we are supposed to have the voting at the first membership meeting of this semester. However, due to everything being virtual, we will be conducting an online election (as we did last Spring) with voting offered on multiple slots/days.
To make this election happen, we first need an Elections Committee, up to 5 elected rank-and-file members who will run a fair and impartial election. Full notice coming soon.
Nominations open upto Feb 12 for Election Committee (5 positions, volunteer), will be elected by “Zoom poll” function at first Membership Meeting, Feb 12
Nominations open upto Feb 12 for one paid Bargaining Committee member (1 GEO-position, paid 10hrs/week with all GEO benefits, duration of appointment is as long as bargaining continues), will be elected by online ballot on ElectionBuddy, conducted by the new Elections Committee
Nominate yourself or any GEO member by emailing [email protected]
Elections Committee nominees, your tasks will be (1) running this barg comm election in Feb, and (2) running regular GEO officer/steering elections in April/May
UAW/UMass Health & Welfare Trust Fund
Attn UMass Grad Employees! Check out your email for updates on amazing new benefits & more!!
Hello all,
This is a friendly reminder:
If you are on continuous enrollment for this upcoming semester, after enrolling for the Spring semester you will need to sign up for Health Insurance. This is the same for people who have less than 5 credits and those who are on a family plan. Please see the relevant forms below:
Health Insurance Enrollment Formhttps://www.umass.edu/uhs/sites/default/files/documents/forms/HealthPlanEnrollment_180-094_July2014.pdf
Affidavit of Domestic Partnership: https://www.umass.edu/uhs/sites/default/files/Affidavit%20of%20Domestic%20Partnership.pdf, Send this form, along with the enrollment form, to [email protected].
This is AMAZING!!!
https://jacobinmag.com/2020/12/columbia-university-tuition-strike-dsa-debt-cancellation?fbclid=IwAR0O6kgkLU21BOnU8674DKoSii2oZFb-SDb-PEfAVRDSDavyKBL-65F0mU0
Three thousand students at Columbia University have pledged to begin a tuition strike next semester if administrators do not concede to their demands. The strike is part of the nationwide student movement to end university austerity, resist rising student debt, and democratize the university.
Update and Invitation:
Please come to the membership meeting scheduled this Friday at 4. The admin is waiting for our counter and we should strategize together!
Photos from Graduate Employee Organization (GEO-UAW)'s post
In less than a week, we have 308 signatures already!!!
Let’s keep the momentum going and share with other graduate students you know!
https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/umass-amherst-graduate-workers-demand-safe-work?source=direct_link&fbclid=IwAR3vEHhdmNQFB8tcTKMolh1PHhsrFJ9I9I9oW1He2Qd_KW2ebrhiByXGtFI
UMass Amherst is inviting 60% of the on-campus population back to campus in the middle of a global pandemic. This places unnecessary stress on the campus’s testing and tracing infrastructure, and dramatically increases the likelihood of COVID-19 spread at UMass and in the surrounding community. Th...
Mornin! Have you signed the petition? If not, please sign and share✊
If you are not a graduate student workers but would to sign in for support, please do so!! Thank you
https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/umass-amherst-graduate-workers-demand-safe-work?source=facebook&&fbclid=IwAR1VLlPh0etBnHLcLyChtF9YH4VP9He9SWd-tkguqgRjFh1vlGeXei3v2fQ
UMass Amherst is inviting 60% of the on-campus population back to campus in the middle of a global pandemic. This places unnecessary stress on the campus’s testing and tracing infrastructure, and dramatically increases the likelihood of COVID-19 spread at UMass and in the surrounding community. Th...
❗It is SUPER IMPORTANT that we get AS MANY SIGNATURES AS POSSIBLE on this petition! Sign and SHARE!
❗We cannot agree to Face-To-Face as the DEFAULT mode of instruction for Spring '21!
❗Has your department said you might have to work in person? Have they said nothing? Are you getting threatening emails from your GPD?
❗If you're being forced into Face-To-Face, sign the petition for yourself, if not, sign it for your fellow workers.
https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/umass-amherst-graduate-workers-demand-safe-work?source=direct_link
UMass Amherst is inviting 60% of the on-campus population back to campus in the middle of a global pandemic. This places unnecessary stress on the campus’s testing and tracing infrastructure, and dramatically increases the likelihood of COVID-19 spread at UMass and in the surrounding community. Th...
Correct link for the impact Bargaining today:
https://umass-amherst.zoom.us/j/95441163764
Zoom is the leader in modern enterprise video communications, with an easy, reliable cloud platform for video and audio conferencing, chat, and webinars across mobile, desktop, and room systems. Zoom Rooms is the original software-based conference room solution used around the world in board, confer...
Correct link: https://umass-amherst.zoom.us/j/95441163764
In a completely expected move, departments are "trying to decide in a case by case basis" who gets a face-to-face appointment for Spring, and who doesn't. Have you been asked nicely by your dept "are you okay to teach in person?????" - perhaps you said yes, too? What are the outcomes of this Russian Roulette, really?
***Outcome 1: You say YES because you need a job, and they are like GREAT you can take this life-threatening in-person class that we need a TA for.
***Outcome 2: You say NO and you get that class assigned to you anyway.
***Outcome 3: You say NO and they're like ok then bye bye and now you have no assistantship for Spring 2021.
***Outcome 4: Oh great, you got to teach remotely because you're high risk (now all of your faculty know everything about your illness), but your friend has to teach in person because they are not high risk as per CDC, so their desire to be safe has no meaning.
MORAL OF THE STORY: Please do not believe even for a minute that the nice people in your dept can actually do anything to help you if the plan is to bring people back to campus. Refuse meetings to "discuss options" There is no good outcome possible here. Only collective action is possible. Only collectively staying at home can keep us all safe.
TODAY IS THE DAY!!! See you all at 1:30 ✊
🔺 Political Science Stewards need you in Level II Grievance!!🔺
It just started, you can still join in (just write who you are in the chat when you do) https://umass-amherst.zoom.us/j/94339874642
Department of Political Science has faced censorship and intimidation as a result of their Chair's decision to monitor the listserv (dept emailing list) that grad students/union members use for union organizing. TODAY @ 4-5pm EST. We are asking for as many Stewards as possible to show up and fill the “room” in support of the Political Science Stewards and members. You do not need to have your camera on or say anything. Please, if you can, show up in solidarity. This is a grievance that has implications for all of us. The GEO listserv is also at present hosted on the UMass system, as are our dept listservs. We must oppose censorship at all levels, and safeguard our right to protected concerted activity.
🔺Grievance Workshop🔺
TIME: TODAY @4- 5 PM
Zoom Link: https://umass-amherst.zoom.us/j/92726454960
Were you ever asked to perform a work that is CLEARLY a GEO-eligible position but not granting any of the benefits?
Were you ever asked to do prep work in summer for the upcoming semester but not being compensated properly?
Were you ever asked to accept a wage that is less than the GEO minimum wage, 30.30 USD?
Many members have had these experiences, especially in summer time. This management practice contributes to unit erosion. It not only underpays individual workers but also undermines our collective bargaining power.
The grievance workshop today is dedicated to Position Misclassification/Unit Erosion and Overwork. Grievance Coordinator, Anna, will lead us in looking at some of the related articles and workshop this issue so that we can spot it and address it!
Zoom is the leader in modern enterprise video communications, with an easy, reliable cloud platform for video and audio conferencing, chat, and webinars across mobile, desktop, and room systems. Zoom Rooms is the original software-based conference room solution used around the world in board, confer...
Today is the day!!!
Please come join us today, grab a lunch if you would like! We will be discussing our plans for successor bargaining, and will allocate some time to talk about the Spring 2021 planning, how we can align it with future bargaining, and possible action we can take collectively.
Time: October 22, 2020 11AM - 1PM
Zoom Link:
https://umass-amherst.zoom.us/s/99169226794
Love these series from Harvard! Yes! Student worker parents deserve better✊
Did you know that Harvard only provided $350,000 to subsidize child care expenses for all student worker parents for an entire year, even though child care costs for one child for one month are about $3,000 (that’s about $36,000 per year!)?
Why do we care? Because student worker parents deserve sufficient resources and support to take care of their families and engage fully in their work. The current structure of academia places huge demands on parents.
Solidarity with the brave student protestors in Thailand!
【Emergency: Global Support for Thai Protests The Thai Monarch must undergo imminent reforms】
On 16th Oct, over ten thousand protestors rallied in the city center of Bangkok under the banner of pro-democratic reforms. The Thai police force responded with water-cannon trucks in a violent crackdown over peaceful protests. We condemn the Thai Government for its contempt and disrespect of the appeal from the Thai people. We call on the Government to exercise self-restraint and to advance substantial political reforms in lieu of relentless political prosecutions under inhumane laws.
Ever since July, the Student Movement had attracted global scrutiny on Thailand. A country who had upheld a trinity of nation, religion and king since 1932. The Future Forward Party was dissolved by force. Legislators had been disqualified and pro-democracy figures had been forbidden to form political parties. The Government is also suspected of puppeteering the disappearance of dissenting figures, whether or not they are in-exile. We believe that the Thai Government ought to exercise self-restraint on these infringement of rights and liberties as well. We stand in solidarity with Thai protestors, in support of their demands including but not limited to the dissolution of the Parliament, to stop ruling with terror, to release all detainees and to lay down a new constitution.
Universal religious freedom does not serve as a basis for the state to undermine and overturn the essential thoughts of peace and freedom, which are endemic to the Enlightenment. The claim by a totalitarian regime based on the divine right to rule can be interpreted as a revival of an obsolete thinking, which should have been left in medieval times. It is no excuse to repress the many freedoms the people are entitled to, as well as their dignity as human beings and the fundamental civil liberties and rights.
A great number of undemocratic authoritarian regimes had survived or sprouted after the third wave of democratization, dating back from the last century. There is indeed a new surge of authoritarian states which devours the values of democracy we hold so dearly. The year of 2019 marks a crusade of peace-loving, democratic protestors risking their all to motivate change, in hope that their homelands will embrace reforms and undergo genuine democratization. The people have spoken, from Hong Kong to Taiwan, to Belarus and many more.
We believe the wind of change is inevitable. Democracy shall prevail over the authoritarian regimes that creep in shadows. We call on every freeman to voice out against tyranny, as of duty and belief.
Democracy now.
Sunny Cheung Nathan Law
Petition Link: http://chng.it/KVz8msP9Fh
Anti-government protesters are calling for reforms to Thailand’s constitutional monarchy
UMass Amherst Campus, 911 Campus Center
Amherst, MA
01002
Pioneer Valley Transit Authority schedules are available here: http://www.pvta.com/schedules.php .
Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Graduate Employee Organization (GEO-UAW) posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.
Send a message to Graduate Employee Organization (GEO-UAW):
Some inspiration before tomorrow's car rally. Credit to Fungai Tichawangana for putting together this amazing video.
Our member Anna has a message about showing solidarity. Please hear it out.
Act now! Apply to take your earned vacation May 11 - 15. Contact us or your department steward to participate in this action! Collective action gets the goods!
Brewing up some coffee for Up With Workers! Come join us in 917.
Highly successful event and honestly just the most incredible movie! Holyoke Community Field was the best venue possible - great support staff, fantastic facilities, clean bathrooms, playground area for kids, and best of all a gorgeous sunset. Next one at UMass??????? Yes??????
#stopandshop picket line is the place to be #strike #faircontractnow come join these folks whenever you can!
Come join your fellow GEO members at the Upub for the Nigeria v Argentina game. Good food, good banter, no diving allowed.
What a powerful strong UMass Unions United Action happening at the Board of Trustees Meeting now. Anna-Claire, your Grievance Coordinator just delivered our statement to the board. Here it is!
Are you on your way to fight for your contract in solidarity with other unions?
We are here and fired up!
Alyssa your union co-chair just finished giving a statement to the UMass Board of Trustees here at UMass Lowell. She called upon the board to protect grad student researchers and workers in the event that the tax bill passes. She also expressed concern on the slow response to our economic proposals at the bargaining table.
See Dean Krauthamer arrive at 19 minutes, and her utter disregard and coldness in the last ten minutes of this video until she slammed the door in our faces
First bargaining meeting!
It is the first day of GEO union contract bargaining. We are meeting with university management in a few minutes at the bargaining table! We are ready, we are prepared! Come join us
UMass Student Activities & Involvement
41 Campus Center Way, 208 Student UnionWestern MA International Socialist Organizati
1 Campus Center WayUniversity of Massachusetts Press
New Africa House, 180 Infirmary Way, 4th Fl.Psychological and Brain Sciences - UMASS Amhe
135 Hicks Way-Tobin HallThe Frank A. Waugh Arboretum at UMass Amherst
1 Campus Center WayUMass Language, Intersensory Perception, and
135 Hicks Way
Amherst College Admission and Financial Aid
220 South Pleasant Street
You Can At UMass - Disability Services
161 Whitmore Administration Building, 181 Presidents Dr
UMass Amherst Historic Preservation Program
151 Presidents Dr
Hampshire College Residence Life & Housing
893 West St
UMass Student Legal Services Office
922 Campus Center
Five College Program in Culture, Health, and
97 Spring St
Center for Agriculture, Food and the Environm
Stockbridge Hall, University of Massachusetts