MAY 5, 2023 LABOR POWER GEO 3550 strikes through U-M graduation On March 24 I was attending my morning English class as usual when we were interrupted with a rambunctious cacophony of noise in the third floor corridor of Mason Hall. Moments later and with an enthusiastic flourish a woman burst through the door, speaker in hand loudly playing rock music and shouted, “This is a strike! Come join us in the Diag, GET UP LET'S GO!” We could hear her echoed calls for protest trail and fade as she continued down the hall. Echoed in every class on the floor shouting the same message, beckoning others to join the movement. Her rebellious cries lingered in the air till the class ended. Why are they striking? As we are probably all brutally aware, the cost of living in Ann Arbor continues to skyrocket. The cost of living is moving at an alarming rate that monthly income is unable to adequately support, leaving many struggling to make ends meet. The graduate students have had enough of constantly reaching out to the University beckoning them to at least pay them a living Ann Arbor wage. So, the girl who busted into our class on that gloomy Wednesday morning was a member of the Graduate Employees' Organization (GEO), a labor union of Graduate Student Instructors and Graduate Student Staff Assistants. Together, these individuals are responsible for a large amount of teaching and grading work the University of Michigan. As of that very Wednesday at 10:24 a.m. GEO has been on strike, withholding their labor to pressure the University to take them seriously. Strikes are the embodiment of democracy, a means to stand up to employers and fight for better working conditions. Since the beginning of their triennial contract negotiations last Fall, GEO has been asking U-M's HR to offer its members a livable wage. This would mean a 60% raise for all GSIs and GSSAs. The university's highest offer, MIA BARR U-M student contributor however, has remained below inflation, effectively translating into a pay cut for its Graduate employees. The escalating costs of living lead individuals to purge more of their income on rent and leave little for anything else, such as food and other basic necessities. GEO is shining a spotlight on the growing wage disparities in Ann Arbor and the inability for not only GSIs and GSSAs, but all Ann Arborites, to live with dignity in this town and its surrounding areas. What else is on the table in GEO's bargaining platform? Beyond the most prevalent issue of wage, GEO is also fighting for programs that will benefit the entire Ann Arbor community, such as a non-police emergency response force. In April of 2021 the Ann Arbor City Council approved the formation of an Unarmed Public Safety Response Program that could be used for mental health crises, conflicts, public assistance and more. I had a chance to speak with Rianna Johnson-Levy a GSI at the University on this program and here is some of what she had to share on the topic. “Having grown up a block over from Aura Rosser, who was killed by the AAPD in 2014 after they were called to respond to a domestic altercation, I know how police presence can escalate to violence in moments of crisis in peoples' lives. I believe supporting non-armed crisis response on our campus will help to protect me as a worker and provide a benefit to black and brown people and people with disabilities who spend their days on our campus.” This program is already strongly supported by organizations across the University and Ann Arbor community and is meant to provide a resource for issues that can be solved without violence, with the goal of de-escalating situations. Back to the living wage. Is that really so much to ask for? The University of Michigan has a $17.4 billion dollar endowment and is set to make an excess of $91 million this fiscal school year alone according to research done by the Michigan Daily. Out-of-state students with no financial assistance pay more for one semester at the University of Michigan than GSI’s and GSSAs make in a year. It would cost the University $30 million (only 1/3 of this year's excess) to pay all GSIs and GSSAs a living wage. Nonetheless, the strike continues with no end in the foreseeable future. In fact, after speaking with a professor who is close to the subject matter, it appears that the University is pressuring faculty to try and keep things as normal as possible to keep donors happy: demanding that tenured faculty, who all have their own obligations, to grade hundreds of papers while maintaining their research with the University. A near impossible task if I have ever heard one. As the strike is nearing a month in length and the semester comes to an end, many students are unhappy with how the University has responded. This is now the longest strike in University history, topping the historic 2020 GEO strike that prevented U-M returning to in-person classes during the COVID pandemic. Strike update: Many GSIs and GSSAs will enter the month of May unable to pay rent, as U-M has withheld payment for all striking Graduate student employees. GEO's strike has receoved international attention and gathered support across the country, as expressed in GEO members and supporters on Mayard Street in downtown Ann Arbor marching to the courthouse on the morning of U-M's injunction hearing. various letters by U-M faculty, as well as fundraisers for GEO's strike fund, from, for example, University of California Santa Cruz. Many tenured faculty and lecturers have pledged to withhold grades in solidarity with GEO. The administration is threatening to give undergraduates illegitimate grades in response, undermining instructors' autonomy and further revealing how U-M prioritizes its own image and money over its mission of education, and its supposed commitment to equity and diversity. You can follow the latest news about the strike on GEO's social media and their website: www.geo3550.org GROUNDCOVER NEWS 11 REBIRTH from page 5 • Learning to be more stoic, focuswhile dealing with the circumstances of the world; • Appreciating laughter and joy and pain. You got to laugh at yourself sometimes — if you don't you might end up hurting yourself; • Loving the simple things in life — the rays of the sun in the morning, being up at 5:30 a.m. in the gym, taking a nice shower after a hard day's work, having a hard day's work; ing on what matters in life, letting the small things go, not getting bothered or frustrated; • Lending a helping hand — that is the best feeling in the world, I love it when people ask me for help. GOD is in assistance of those humans who seek to help and serve their fellow man; • Respecting pregnant women, women, the elderly, opening doors for people, walking down the stairs in front of pregnant women so that they feel comfortable, guiding, assisting, serving, helping, the smile on a fellow human when he has reached his purpose and goal is amazing, it’s fulfilling, it’s beautiful, it's contagious, it’s courageous. It makes you feel like a billionaire while not having a single penny in your pocket. I don't understand how houselessness is somehow making me into a refined gentleman. But it has been one hell of a journey. Organization is sophistication, early preparation leads to improved determination, which enhances the imagination and leads creations. Hey, whatever you're going through just remember, life is not that bad, and the code to the bathroom at Starbucks on State Street is 35724. Mohammed Al Mustapha (Pen Name — Boomer the Nile Crocodile aka Nubian Prince). to beautiful
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