GEO

Students at the University of Illinois at Chicago are only two weeks away from finishing classes this semester, yet many undergraduate courses do not currently count with teacher and graduate assistants because the institution’s graduate workers have gone on strike.

ANN ARBOR, MI - The University of Michigan is getting general support for its campus-wide COVID-19 vaccination mandate from students, faculty and lecturers, but concerns over implementation and enforcement exist. Read more: University of Michigan requiring COVID vaccines for students, faculty and staffFaculty Senate Chairman Allen Liu is “absolutely delighted” with the mandate, due to health benefits of the vaccine against COVID-19 and its variants. Liu conducted a Faculty Senate survey last month that found 89% of about 2,370 respondents supported a campus-wide vaccination mandate. For GEO, the concern is over international students that may not have the same access to vaccines as American graduate students, Glauser said. Read more University of Michigan news:COVID-19 outbreaks at University of Michigan last year mostly stayed on campus, study saysUniversity of Michigan students are back this fall and here’s their plan for moving inMichigan State University mandates COVID-19 vaccines, masks

After nearly four years of litigation and pandemic-related delays, a trial is underway to determine whether the GEO Group must pay minimum wage to detainees who perform cooking, cleaning and other tasks at its Northwest immigration detention center in Washington state.

It started in June, when UM announced that students would be on campus for in-person classes this fall. September 2020In the first week of classes, the university reported on its COVID-19 dashboard there were 40 cases of COVID-19 among the UM community. Soon after, UM announced the winter 2021 semester would look much different than the fall: Fewer students on campus, more remote learning and more COVID-19 testing options. At the time, about 90% of UM’s undergraduate classes were being taught remotely. Classes for UM students end Dec. 8 and final exams will take place remotely Dec. 10-11 and Dec. 14-18.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Faculty leaders at the University of Michigan have reversed a statement made last week regarding a motion of no-confidence in U-M President Mark Schlissel. After reviewing votes taken during a meeting last week, members of the Faculty Senate now say that the motion should have passed. During a Wednesday, Sept. 16 meeting, the motion was said to have failed because it did not receive a majority of votes in favor. GEO ended its strike on Thursday, Sept. 17, after a deal was struck between it and the university. The faculty senate has around 4,300 members, some of whom were not able to make the Sept. 16 meeting.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Members of the Graduate Employee’s Organization (GEO) voted Wednesday to accept the University of Michigan’s latest offer regarding issues of mutual concern and end their strike. The university and GEO union announced the strike end Thursday morning. “GEO said its members would return to their duties beginning this morning,” reads a statement from the university. At our largest general membership meeting to date, 1,074 GEO members voted to accept the university’s offer, 239 members voted to reject, and 66 abstained. GEO members and supporters now return to our regular work duties.

Maren Spolum and Dr. Hannah Maier from Public Health will speak on the public health implications of GEO's demands. pic.twitter.com/qcTi6pZ3Ns — GEO at U-Michigan (@geo3550) September 16, 2020U-M postdoctoral research fellow in Epidemiology Hannah Maier and public health doctoral student Maren Spolum each spoke on the public health implications of GEO’s demands. She discussed how policing is related to public health and how data from DPSS supports GEO’s demand to disarm police on campus. Addressing the U-M’s claim that some demands are not bargaining items, GEO member Sasha Bishop went over each of GEO’s anti-policing demands. Bishop elaborated on why the student unions' demands address the university’s commitment to diversity and inclusion.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – On Friday, undergraduate students at the University of Michigan voiced support for graduate students and resident advisors on strike through a solidarity protest and march. More than 250 undergraduates and members of Students Demand Representation, a U-M student activist organization, listened to speeches given from the steps of the Michigan Union about labor unions and the safety of university workers. After the speeches, undergraduate students marched through downtown Ann Arbor and across campus to join those on strike and to support U-M Dining employees who staged a walkout last week. On Monday afternoon, University of Michigan president Mark Schlissel said through video that the university has taken legal action against the strike. According to University spokesman Rick Fitzgerald, the move includes a “temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction against the union strike.”More University of Michigan strike coverage:

GEO members are calling for the university to help make the campus safer amid the pandemic, requesting U-M to increase and randomize COVID-19 testing. A U-M student who reportedly tested positive for COVID-19 visited the Moore Building on Sept. 1-4. GEO members say the strike will continue until their demands are met. The university stands ready to continue discussions with GEO so that all students are able to continue their studies without further interruption. Related: Michigan State University students asked to self-quarantine amid surge of coronavirus (COVID-19) cases

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Graduate student instructors at the University of Michigan will continue their strike after rejecting an initial offer from the Ann Arbor university. A proposal by the university to end the strike was supported by GEO leadership, but members ultimately rejected the university’s offer saying that it did not meet their demands. “Membership decided by an overwhelming majority that the university’s offer did not constitute continued progress on these demands,” the release states. GEO members have been on strike since Tuesday, Sept. 8, protesting the university’s return to in-person learning. On Thursday, the university released a more detailed response to GEO’s demands after its offer was rejected.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. The University of Michigans Graduate Employees Organization (GEO) will begin striking Tuesday to protest the universitys return to in-person education amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. GEO represents graduate student instructors and graduate student staff assistants at U-M. The organization voted in favor of the strike on Monday, according to a tweet posted by the group -- one week after classes resumed on campus. The University of Michigans Lecturers Employee Organization (LEO) said Monday that the COVID-19 testing plan is inadequate, and that they support GEOs decision to strike. The university also created a COVID-19 dashboard that provides updates regarding cases of COVID-19 on the Ann Arbor campus.

Together, CoreCivic and GEO Group made about $1.3 billion last year in contracts with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Positioning themselves for the future, GEO and CoreCivic recently agreed to long-term contracts with the Trump administration for several immigration detention centers in Texas and California. The California agreements were reached days before the effective date of the law, which GEO and the Trump administration are now challenging in court. Most of the U.S. governments 200 immigration detention centers are run by private contractors holding asylum seekers and other immigrants accused of administrative violations or awaiting deportation. The private immigration system has grown under presidents of both parties over the last four decades.