Katherine Wright 🎆

phding on racial health disparities @ UMich | semi-professional sociologist | hobby artist | auntie to cats & babies | #uniongal @geo3550 | she/her 🌈 ✊🏾

[Katherine Wright 🎆 @thewrightkat]

👋 Howdy! 🤠 I'm only active #onhere when my union @geo3550 is negotiating a new contract with #umich HR. I like having a fair contract that meets my and my community's needs. I'd also like a livable wage plz :)

Enjoy the 🌶️spicy🌶️ takes for as long as they draw this out~~

[Katherine Wright 🎆 @thewrightkat]

Now I don't know if I mean, where I'll write his name 🫣

Send suggestions before my sister writes it randomly herself 🙏🏾

[Katherine Wright 🎆 @thewrightkat]

I was making a name plate for my nephew, but I got 🌟 a little 🌟 carried away 🤏🏾

[Dr Ryan Glauser @rtglauser]

Remember in the peak of COVID pandemic when @umichgradschool rejected emergency funding due to "available summer funding" or "available external grant opportunities" and then waltzed around in poverty-stricken language to justify it? Grad students do and we don't trust you!

[Grad Employees' Org UMich @geo3550]

U-M admin unilaterally rushed through grad worker compensation changes through the summer "Rackham Plan", an action which violates labor laws. Workers were promised a salary, and had it taken away at the last minute. Workers were arbitrarily excluded from the program.

[Katticus @booksn1octopus]

as an undergrad/prospective grad student, the way @UMich is handling GEO's strike makes me want to leave AA, not even apply to UM's grad programs, and never give them money as an alum. every single choice made by admin since March has been so gross and disheartening to watch

[Grad Employees' Org UMich @geo3550]

Thanks to our amazing bargaining team and our strike, we reached 12 TAs with HR yesterday. However, none of these were on pay. U-M thinks our salary should stay below inflation and cost of living, our workers think "Can I please pay for groceries and rent?"

[Meg Burt @megpolisci]

According to the state of Michigan, my GSI salary makes me eligible for food stamps. U-M admin has created a situation of food and housing precarity for its instructors, yet insists that everything is fine.

[Grad Employees' Org UMich @geo3550]

BREAKING: U-M Grad Workers overwhelmingly voted to reject HR's comprehensive package offered on May 12.

HR hasn't moved meaningfully on compensation since the start of the strike. We are experts on our working conditions & we won't back down until we win a UM for All!

[Grad Employees' Org UMich @geo3550]

Grad Workers, come to bargaining tomorrow morning to VOTE on whether HR's comprehensive package meets our needs.

HR hasn't moved on compensation since the start of the strike, leaving us with an effective pay cut for the upcoming academic year.

[Grad Employees' Org UMich @geo3550]

The year-1 raise offer from @UMich (which hasn't changed since grads went on strike) is ~$100/month. It won't even cover the increase in Maya's rent. That's why it's an effective pay-cut.

The Regents raise our cost of living while cutting pay. Their offer is simply unacceptable.

[Grad Employees' Org UMich @geo3550]

This study found that A2 has the most expensive childcare in the whole damn country!

There's no question: @UMich must increase the subsidy & abolish the eligibility requirements that prevent the parents who need it most from using this key benefit.

https://t.co/vLj1ScCLyw

[Grad Employees' Org UMich @geo3550]

At the @UMich Regents meeting, grads gave the Regents a book of solidarity statements from public figures, faculty, and other unions. It was over 200 pages long. Everyone from the @UAW to @GovWhitmer to @BernieSanders agrees that grads deserve a living wage & a fair contract.

[More Perfect Union @MorePerfectUS]

The University of Michigan graduate union, @geo3550, is accusing the school of ordering the falsification of grades.

Staff are being told to enter missing grades for classes taught by the striking grad workers. The union argues that many grades will be entirely made up.

[Grad Employees' Org UMich @geo3550]

Picket for summer funding justice happening outside the @umichLSA building now!

Summer funding is not a handout or a favor. It's a basic necessity for anyone in grad school. The chaotic Rackham Plan rollout has left too many in the lurch. We need reliable summer funding now!

[and always remember, free palestine @helddaille]

@UMPublicAffairs @UMich UMich: we have cleared our schedules! Meet with us NOW!!!
GEO: cool, so y’all have counters ready?
UMich:…no
*contract expires*
UMich: