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After months of organizing and collective action, we have WON significant parking concessions from the university that benefit all Graduate Assistants:
These two agreements are one step toward resolving the unfair changes the university made last August, when they abruptly announced that GAs were no longer permitted to park in Premium Commuter lots, restricted GAs from parking in N Lot, and increased GA garage prices for 2024-2025 to an outrageous $1098. For months, many of us experienced the daily frustration of walking past a nearly empty N Lot, spaces we previously had access to. Our response was swift and unified. We filed two formal grievances documenting how the university had violated established past practices. Despite the administration's attempts to delay resolution by denying our grievances for months, we persisted. It wasn't until we were days away from scheduled arbitration hearings that they finally offered this resolution. This victory belongs to every GA who signed our petition, made signs, rallied at Lot N, attended hearings, and stood in solidarity throughout this challenging process. While this is a temporary win, this makes us more determined than ever to strengthen our Collective Bargaining Agreement during contract negotiations next year and protect GAs from unfair parking changes. In solidarity, GEU Executive Board
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The last few weeks have been incredibly challenging to navigate with constantly changing decisions and an overwhelming news cycle. This can be an isolating and stressful time, and we want to offer community and solidarity with all Graduate Assistants and Postdocs. If you are personally affected by any of the news or potential executive orders, please reach out to us. We may be able to help you find additional resources or connect you with people who may be able to help.
RESOURCES We want to affirm your rights as Graduate and Postdoc workers. please see resources below:
ACTION ITEMS Some of you may be looking for action items at this time. The following is by no means an exhaustive list, but it is a place to start.
We are stronger when we act collectively! Solidarity always, The GEU Executive Board Please note that the application window for GA Childcare Reimbursements will close on Friday, January 17 at 11:59 PM. Instructions and a link to the form can be found HERE. Late applications cannot be accepted.
More information about childcare reimbursement, including frequently asked questions can be found under our resources!
To students and workers at UConn and across Connecticut: We, GEU-UAW Local 6950, the labor union of graduate and postdoctoral workers at the University of Connecticut, find it urgent to express our deep concern about the codification of new University policies restricting the speech, expression, and assembly of students and employees at UConn. We see these changes as a punitive response to student protests; an escalation of the biased repression of Palestinian and pro-Palestinian community members; and an attack on the free speech and right to protest of our entire UConn community–including the labor movement. We demand that the UConn administration retract these policies. Free speech and the right to protest must be respected everywhere, especially at public universities such as ours. Between April 25th and April 30th, student activists engaged in a protest of the State of Israel’s genocide of Palestinians, demanding that UConn divest from and cut ties with the industries that are profiting off the killing of tens of thousands. The protest was an educative, multicultural, multi-faith gathering and a testament to the commitment of our community to a world free from colonialism, racism, and war. Rather than engage with the students’ cries to end the complicity of their university in the violence, UConn’s administration responded with an aggressive police mobilization, arresting 26 protesters on charges of trespassing. We reiterate our earlier condemnation of these arrests and call on the university to ask the State’s Attorney to drop the charges. Over the summer, the UConn administration revised university codes of conduct to include new restrictions on amplified sound, outdoor gatherings, and postering and flyering. While a dean sent a recent email aiming to impress on all graduate students that, “First and foremost, you are a student,” it is incumbent on us to remind the University that we are also organized workers in the labor movement, employees who insist on the direct connection between our working conditions and the learning conditions of our students and ourselves. The arrest of student demonstrators and anti-speech policies directly and negatively impact our work. In line with larger nationwide efforts to repress protest and chill free speech on campus, there have been five identified policies targeting speech, protest, organization of events, and disciplinary measures strengthening enforcement due to recent activism and organizing. For example, the Amplified and Projected Sound policy was changed effective August 21st, 2024 to prohibit Amplified and Projected Sound during work hours, while exempting events and activities sponsored by the President, Provost, or Vice President for Student Life and Enrollment; the Outdoor Activities Policy was changed effective August 21st, 2024 which allows the university to decide which outdoor activities to prioritize and empowers the university to force one to relocate. The General Rules of Conduct were changed effective February 29th, 2024 to prohibit employees from “engaging in activities which are detrimental to the best interests of the University or the State.” New restrictions on flyering and postering impose limits on student and worker speech. We have seen in the past how these policies disproportionately impact pro-Palestinian demonstrators and place undue burden on them through lengthy and unnecessary disciplinary processes. We are the future of higher education and see these policies as contributing to broader, troubling attacks on academic freedom. It is our right to advocate, critique, dissent, and organize for causes that are meaningful to us, whether or not they align with the University’s current financial arrangements or the personal politics of its administrators. While it is obvious that these changes are a response to the anti-genocide protests of April 2024, we, organized workers at this university, understand that these rules are intended to have a chilling effect on all campus organizing, including the labor movement and our fight for worker rights. During a time when UConn is unapologetically engaging in budget cuts that threaten the livelihood and quality of life of graduate students, faculty, and staff on campus, UConn continues to heavily invest in the policing and surveillance of our community at the cost of investing in education. UConn spent $67,168 in police overtime alone to surveil and intimidate the brave student demonstrators and, based on the passage of these policies, only plans to escalate punishment, surveillance, and repression. We see the repression of free speech and expansion of police power as an attack on the right of all students and workers to engage as civic-minded and politically-aware community members. In dark times such as these, the labor movement must be the first line of defense of civil liberties. We call on other unions on campus, all student constituencies, and labor unions and progressive organizations across Connecticut and the country to demand that these policies be retracted and fight for our right to protest and organize at UConn and beyond. In Solidarity, GEU-UAW Local 6950 Policies Referenced:
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Contact UsEmail: [email protected] &
[email protected] Address: GEU-UAW Local 6950, 1734 Storrs Road, Storrs, CT 06268 Because our office is off campus and not easily accessible, we hold regular office hours as well as membership meetings on campus. For information on the date, time, and location please see our calendar. |
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