Op-Ed: Why undergraduates should be on the picket line

On Wednesday morning, members of the Graduate Employees’ Organization and their allies gathered on the Diag in support of GEO’s demands for a fair contract and a living wage for all. The air was brimming with energy, and I felt proud to be joined by many other impassioned undergraduate students who showed up in solidarity with GEO. Alongside current and former Graduate Student Instructors, we marched and chanted for a more livable University of Michigan — it was a powerful and historical moment. Hundreds of undergraduate students were there in support because every single one of us has a stake in this fight. Here is why you should sign up to join us on the picket lines.

Why should the GEO strike matter to undergraduate students? Simply put, graduate student working conditions are our learning conditions and their demands are in our best interest. Graduate workers are an essential part of our campus community, and without them, the University would not be able to provide such a high-quality and sought-after education. Graduate workers not only do the academic labor of grading papers, guiding class discussions and helping students with course material, but also the emotional labor of providing support when students are struggling in their personal lives. Think about the positive difference that GSIs have made in your lives. They work far more than the 20 hours stipulated in their contract, but they are treated like part-time workers for full-time work. We all deserve a campus that fosters a healthy quality of life for those who live and work on it.

GEO graduate workers are demanding a living wage of $38,500. The current wage of $24,000 is not enough to meet the rapidly increasing cost of living in Ann Arbor. In fact, 80% of graduate workers are rent-burdened, and many of them are forced to live in neighboring cities like Ypsilanti. They live paycheck to paycheck, struggling to afford groceries, child care and medical bills. They resort to rationing their medications, skipping meals and selling their plasma to keep their heads above water. These living conditions are indefensible. Yet, the University is only offering a raise of around $100 per month in the first year and even less in the next two years, which is not enough to cover the yearly 6% inflation rate. In other words, this “raise” is actually a significant pay cut. 

GEO’s demands also directly benefit undergraduate students on campus. For example, GEO is fighting for increased disability accommodations and the creation of a Disability Cultural Center. By providing basic training on disability accommodations, GSIs can better support undergraduate students with disabilities. Another key demand includes improving access to gender-affirming health care services. In the past, GEO’s wins on gender-affirming health care have led to better coverage for everyone across our campus community. At a time when transgender people are under assault across the country, every person on campus has a stake in GEO’s fight for trans rights. For both undergraduate and graduate students who are parents, GEO also hopes to abolish the discriminatory eligibility requirements for the child care subsidy and increase the subsidy to cover 75% of the cost of U-M child care centers.

Another central aim of their platform is public safety — something that will have a big impact on the entire campus community. Many students of Color, graduates and undergraduates alike, have experienced traumatizing encounters with campus police, making them feel alienated and unsafe. GEO is asking the University to fund the Coalition for Re-Envisioning Our Safety, which is developing a community-led non-police response program in Washtenaw County. An unarmed program was voted on unanimously by Ann Arbor City Council and received 93% support in a recent city of Ann Arbor poll. GEO’s proposal to codify the University’s sanctuary campus policy, which would limit the University’s cooperation with immigration enforcement authorities except as required by law, would also protect undocumented students at all levels of study. These common-sense proposals would make the University safer for everyone and should be supported by the entire campus community.

Last Thursday, the University filed an injunction against GEO and is suing the union for damages. The University claims that GEO is causing “irreparable injury” to undergraduates by going on strike. However, the University conveniently ignores the fact that Central Student Government, the largest organization that represents undergrads, endorsed GEO’s demands last fall. Furthermore, many of us will actually be graduate workers ourselves one day, meaning that the success of GEO’s demands would directly improve our lives in the near future. In reality, it is the University’s Board of Regents and University President Santa Ono who are responsible for the disruption of GEO’s strike, as they have permitted U-M representatives to refuse to negotiate in good faith.

The punitive course of action marked by the University’s injunction is an aggressive affront to the values that the university claims to champion: diversity, equity and inclusion. The University’s commitment to DEI seems hollow when U-M administration is refusing to give graduate workers a contract that protects their most marginalized members. The University of Michigan is one of the wealthiest public institutions in the world. Ono will receive $6 million in salaries and bonuses over the next five years. U-M administration has no trouble finding the money for multi-million dollar renovations of the President’s Mansion or millions of dollars for former University President Mark Schlissel’s retirement package. Yet, when it comes to the economic well-being of its grad workers, the money seems to run dry. The University needs to get its priorities straight and spend money on its students – not just vanity projects and exorbitant salaries for bosses.

I ask all undergraduate students to show some courage and join graduate workers on the picket lines. I ask them to not be complicit in or support scab labor — that is, labor that substitutes that of striking workers. Don’t attend your GSI sections if they are being replaced by scabs and don’t cross the picket line if there is one in front of your class building. Ask your professors to commit to not using scab labor, talk to your friends and classmates about GEO’s fight, and sign up for a picketing shift. If you are financially able, donate to GEO’s strike fund and share it widely. 

All labor must be dignified with fair treatment and fair compensation. It’s time for us to show the University and Ono’s administration who we are and what we stand for. See you on the picket lines. 

Mahnoor Imran is the undergraduate media spokesperson for GEO. She can be reached at mahnoori@umich.edu.