Grad Workers Strike Fund (GEO AFT-Michigan Local 3550)

The strike support and hardship fund for grad workers at the University of Michigan.

Our callous employer has decided to withhold pay, despite that 60% of grads cannot afford a $1,000 surprise expense, 8/10 grads are rent-burdened, and 1/10 grads are food insecure. All funds will be used to directly support workers in most need. So far we have distributed over $322,000 to graduate workers. We will undoubtedly face withheld pay again this fall should grad students authorize a continued strike.

Grad workers at the University of Michigan are raising money for a strike fund! Grad workers have been on strike for four weeks now, and we need to prepare for action if the university admin continues to refuse to offer meaningful solutions to the serious problems we’re facing. This fund will support grad workers who are on strike, withholding their labor and sacrificing their pay to win changes in our workplace. 

Your donation to this strike fund will make a real difference in grad workers’ ability to sustain the fight to make a U-M for All. The admin continues to offer us ‘raises’ below the rate of inflation – effective pay cuts – and have refused to offer solutions to issues facing parent grad workers, transgender grad workers, international grad workers, and more. If you believe that grad workers deserve fair pay, better transgender and mental healthcare, protections from sexual harassment, and better working conditions, please donate today!

We welcome donations from grad research assistants and grads on fellowship, U-M parents, and local allies in Ann Arbor, Washtenaw County, our siblings in the trade union movement, and anyone across Michigan or around the world willing to take a stand for grad workers’ working conditions! The university has an endowment of $17 billion and an army of lawyers — to win, we need your support. All donations will go to the Graduate Employees’ Organization’s Strike Fund account and will be used to support workers.

Learn more about U-M’s grad workers: www.geo3550.org/bargaining