ANN ARBOR, MI - The Graduate Employees' Organization has ended its strike at the University of Michigan, accepting a deal late Thursday, Sept. 16.
The deal came after GEO accepted the second offer it had received from the university since going on strike on Sept. 8, with 1,074 members voting to accept UM’s offer, while 239 voted against it and another 66 abstained.
“Thousands of members and allies came out in force day after day on the virtual and in-person picket lines to show that graduate students and their allies were prepared to fight for this community,” the union said in a statement. “By withholding our labor, building coalitions, and making our power impossible to ignore, we forced the university to give us an offer with substantive progress toward a safe and just campus.”
GEO members will now return to their work duties, the union said. UM Spokesman Rick Fitzgerald said the deal signals the end of the injunction it filed on Monday, in addition to the unfair labor practice charge it filed against the union.
“We are pleased that GEO members voted to end the strike and return to work Thursday,” Fitzgerald said.
The complaint, filed in Washtenaw County’s 22nd Circuit Court, alleged the graduate employees had been in violation of the of the Michigan Public Employment Relations Act and that GEO members were in violation of their collective bargain agreement, which includes a no-strike commitment. UM was asking the circuit court to order striking members of the GEO to return to work.
In its statement, the union said it was able to win critical progress “in the face of the university’s threats and bullying,” including "workable pandemic childcare options; substantive support for international graduate students and transparent COVID-19 testing protocols.
GEO also reported making “incremental but real movement on our policing demands," including a commitment to a revision of the Michigan Ambassadors program.
GEO had issued several demands for the university, including more transparency in UM’s plan related to the COVID-19 pandemic, support for graduate student instructors to work remotely, childcare subsidies, demilitarizing the campus’s Division of Public Safety and Security and ending ties to local law enforcement and other agencies, such as Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
From COVID testing to cops, University of Michigan graduate students explain why they’re striking
The effort by graduate students helped staff in UM residence halls to announce their own strike due to what they say is a lack of coronavirus health protections for workers.
“Our victories on policing in particular came from our members' refusal to abandon these demands by accepting a first offer with zero progress on them, and, importantly, from the work of some of our Black members to reorient around and win strategic first victories in a long-term abolitionist organizing campaign,” the union said.
News of the deal came after hectic day for the university, with UM’s faculty senate voting on a pair of ‘no confidence’ motions in President Mark Schlissel and the university’s reopening plans Wednesday afternoon.
According to multiple sources, the vote was 957 in favor of the no confidence vote in Schlissel, 953 against and 184 abstentions. The vote requires 50% of all votes to be in favor to pass.
The senate was still discussing how to count abstentions, however, and the vote tally -- and whether or not the no-confidence resolution is ultimately adopted -- could still change. But that much remained unclear Wednesday night.
The resolution of no confidence in Schlissel says he did not use a report by the Ethics and Privacy Committee — which was appointed by Schlissel — to inform reopening plans, did not respond to the committee and did not make the report public, the resolution says. Schlissel has also “explicitly refused to accept personal responsibility for the consequences of the administration’s decisions,” the resolution states.
“Unlike today’s split Faculty Senate vote, GEO resoundingly claims no confidence in President Mark Schlissel,” GEO leadership said. “But we have tremendous confidence in each and every GEO member, and our collective organizing power. The fight for a safe and just campus for all continues.”
The vote of no confidence in the university’s reopening plan failed by a vote of 915 in favor, 991 against and 198 abstaining. The motion said that the Ethics and Privacy Committee appointed by Schlissel has declared that the reopening plan does not meet “the reasonable standard for safety recommended by our report.”
READ MORE:
University of Michigan graduate students, residential staff march in solidarity with dining workers
Full complaint details University of Michigan’s battle with graduate employees on strike
Residence hall staff on strike at University of Michigan, demand more coronavirus protections
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