Nov 10 Members Meeting, $500 Bonus, Updates on defending our contract
With so much going on, we have several important updates:
Save the date for the next General Member’s Meeting Nov 10, 2021 at 6PM, at 99 Morris Ave in Providence (the Friends Meeting House) - RSVP here!
Updates on our Unfair Labor Practice charges - Tell Brown to respect our workplace democracy!
Check your October paycheck for our $500 bonus
Check out our new union hall at 177 North Main #2!
Save the date for our next General Member’s Meeting
This November 10th at 6pm at 99 Morris Ave, GLO members will come together to share our experiences and discuss next steps to protect our workplace democracy. GLO’s Social Justice committee will also be announcing an upcoming referendum that we’ll be voting on to help chart our course as an anti-racist, feminist organization.
Save the date and be sure to RSVP here!
Updates on our Unfair Labor Practice charges
With Brown undermining the work we’ve done together to build our union, we filed Unfair Labor Practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board to defend our workplace democracy. We know legal action is no substitute for our unity and strength in numbers: tell Brown to respect our workplace democracy by signing our petition here!
Admin has been making unilateral decisions about our working conditions, creating uncertainty for grads working remotely. International grads have been especially impacted, like Ayşe Şanlı in Anthropology:
“Earlier this summer, I applied for remote work for Fall 2021, and made my plans to be abroad for the major part of the semester. The Graduate School never informed grad students about the RI residence requirement at any point during the remote work application process or aftermath, up until the very end of August. While I had been in touch with the Graduate School to resolve this issue, my TAship was canceled in early September without any notification. Together with GLO I was able to hold the administration accountable for this unilateral change to remote work. My appointment letter was eventually reinstated thanks to the union, who supported me tremendously throughout this draining process.”
Admin’s unilateral changes have likewise resulted in some grads receiving severely late paychecks, receiving as little as $620 in all of September. In the Daily Herald’s coverage, Brown simply said there are “fewer than 10 graduate students in this position.” But it’s unacceptable for anyone to be paid late. We have a union now: admin needs to sit down and bargain with grads when it wants to make changes impacting our livelihoods.
October Paychecks
Brown also refused to deduct our dues in September, saying they would deduct dues twice from our October paychecks. Admin told the Herald that we hadn't objected to this. This simply isn't true. GLO leaders told them directly that without time to consult our members, we couldn’t accept this plain violation of our contract.
Our union isn’t a student club whose funding is at admin’s whim: we pay our own dues to fund our independent organization. Show admin they can’t pick and choose which parts of our contract to follow by signing our petition here.
The good news is that, thanks to that contract, we have a $500 bonus coming this October to all grads (including grads who aren’t currently in our bargaining unit). We expect Brown to follow through on this obligation, but be sure to check your paycheck to make sure you receive it, and email us at comms@glounion.org if you think you didn’t.
We have a new Union Office!
We're excited to announce our first GLO office! This is a space for all GLO members to use. We will be using this space to hold committee meetings, plan events, and run the business of our union. Come through any time next week from 10-6 at 177 North Main St #2 to ask questions, get GLO swag, or just hang out. The entrance is around the side of the building, through the parking lot.
Interested in getting more involved? We’re always looking for new committee members! Email comms@glounion.org
In Solidarity,
Talie Massachi | she/her
PhD Candidate in Computer Science
GLO Communications Coordinator
