It seems like it’s been a long time since there was a Bargaining Blog update, and that’s because it has been. Since our last update at the beginning of October, we’ve only been able to schedule one additional meeting with the representatives from the University. And our upcoming meetings are widely spaced out, because of difficulty getting scheduled meetings on the books with the representatives who need to be there. We’re doing everything we can to get the University reps to the table so we can continue making progress towards a new contract.
It’s time to put our Contract Action Team into action! We need you! Our membership is where our strength as a bargaining unit comes from. At this point, we want to show the administration that our union is strong, and that we deserve and demand an equitable contract that provides better transparency and protection for grad students at URI. And we need your help. Send us an email at uri.gau@gmail.com and let us know if you’d like to help our Contract Action Team get to work. Join the movement, and let’s show up for our fellow grads! We are stronger together, and our power as a bargaining unit lies in the support of our members.
Involvement in the Contract Action Team doesn’t have to be all or nothing. Members can participate at whatever level they have the bandwidth for. Here’s what we need volunteers to do:
Increase visibility of GAU
Wear URI GAU buttons and t-shirts on campus
Hang GAU signs on your office
Add GAU logo to your email signature
Post about GAU on social media
Show up for GAU and our grads
Show up to General Assembly Meetings and Contract Info Meetings
Show up for Lunch and Learns
Talk to other members
Sign and get others to sign petitions
Pass out leaflet on campus
Postering the campus with GAU posters
Speak at meetings with the administration
Speak up about your experiences as a graduate student
Write and signal boost for GAU
Write letters or postcards to the administration
Call the administration about our concerns
Publish op eds or talk on local radio or podcasts
If any of these action items sound like something in your wheelhouse, contact us! We need your skills! Our power is in our people, so we need our membership to be actively involved in helping us keep momentum for bargaining our contract.
Solidarity to the end, solidarity on the seas and oceans, solidarity with growing confidence and growing strength in our Union, we will defend our Union together, solidarity on the beaches, solidarity on the stomping ground, solidarity in the fields and in the streets, solidarity in the hills, solidarity on campus: we shall never surrender.
Solidarity forever,
URI Graduate Assistants United