Donate to their strike fund here!
On March 28, 2023, the University of Michigan's Graduate Employees Organization (GEO) began a strike action that is now crossing into its third week. The strike vote was authorized by 95% of GEO, which represents around 2,500 graduate workers, after four months of the university stonewalling bargaining and generally refusing to address low graduate worker pay and ballooning cost of living.
The situation for many University of Michigan graduate workers is dire, according to the union. In their authorization for a strike vote, they noted 80 percent of graduate workers are rent-burdened, and the gap between the cost of living and salaries has almost tripled. Graduate pay at the University of Michigan against its contemporaries is abysmal. At least 20% of graduate workers report harassment or discrimination. Despite months of negotiations, an extensive series of proposals to address these issues identified by the union have gone largely unanswered, ignored, or dismissed by the university. With other options exhausted, a strike was authorized on the 25th and began officially on the 28th.
Almost immediately, the University of Michigan has sought to end the strike, calling it illegal under Michigan law and a breach of the existing collective bargaining agreement (which is in effect until May 1). On March 30, they sought an injunction to force strikers back to work. Elsewhere, they have sought to stifle bargaining by arguing certain proposals by the union such as better coverage of gender-affirming healthcare are not the purview of collective bargaining between the workers and the university. While an emergency injunction was denied, an evidentiary hearing is still due in court on Monday, April 10.
This is currently the union's second longest strike, and they have no intention of going quietly or giving up until their demands are met. Sign ups for week three of picket line shifts started in the process of writing this, in fact, and they could certainly use any money you're able to throw their way for the no-doubt costly legal fight they'll have against the university.
