I want to start this week by boosting/reiterating some of the points @geo3550 and our allies made last week. So let’s invalidate some of @UMich’s claims with the facts and take back this narrative! #StrikeforSafeCampus

Claim: “Under Michigan law, public employees, including graduate student employees, may not strike.”
Fact: Technically, yes, but that doesn’t mean we can’t or shouldn’t – striking is the bedrock of unions and legality isn’t the arbiter of morality. https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/mbzza3/how-illegal-teacher-strikes-rescued-the-american-labor-movement

Further, “A walkout because of conditions abnormally dangerous to health…has been held not to violate a no-strike provision” ( https://www.nlrb.gov/strikes ) and #UMMakesUsSick

Claim: “we have remained adamant that all work that can be done remotely should continue to be done remotely”
Fact: Some grad students have felt pressure to work in-person & this claim ignores those workers expected to work in-person: staff like RAs, maintenance, etc.

See this thread for a great consideration of how @UMich is ignoring the safety of its staff: https://twitter.com/mjkeran/status/1303778578723725318?s=20

Claim: “The university’s proposal addressed nearly all of the issues GEO raised under the contract”
Fact: UM's use of “address” obfuscates the fact that while they touched on each of the issues, they didn’t provide serious or constructive solutions or offers on most of them...

...and when they did, barely. https://twitter.com/AndrewCabaniss/status/1304565142080884737?s=20

Claim: “GEO leadership supported a comprehensive university proposal to meet the interests of GEO and end the strike, but it was rejected by a membership vote late Wednesday night.”
This has been repeated by multiple members of administration.

Fact: This claim misrepresents the facts in two major ways: 1) GEO is a collective & makes its decisions democratically, there is no leadership vs membership 2) Our leadership was split on how to move forward https://twitter.com/mjkeran/status/1304766604790595584?s=20

Claim: Our COVID demands and policing demands are unrelated.
Fact: The issues are seriously intertwined in ways that CANNOT be ignored, but the University consistently tries to separate them in their statements. https://twitter.com/chingonacademic/status/1303721900397531139?s=20