{"id":122017,"date":"2023-02-08T00:06:36","date_gmt":"2023-02-08T05:06:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thecollegefix.com\/?p=122017"},"modified":"2023-02-08T00:45:46","modified_gmt":"2023-02-08T05:45:46","slug":"university-of-michigan-union-demands-abortion-fund-and-no-cops","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thecollegefix.com\/university-of-michigan-union-demands-abortion-fund-and-no-cops\/","title":{"rendered":"University of Michigan union demands abortion fund and no cops"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em><strong>Negotiations between campus officials and GEO set to continue through April<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>A University of Michigan graduate employees union wants to see the campus police abolished and a fund set up to provide for abortions and transgender drugs and surgeries.<\/p>\n<p>The demands are part of the process of drafting a new three-year labor contract before the current one expires on April 30.<\/p>\n<p>The Graduate Employees&#8217; Organization however has lost so far in its demand to replace the campus police department with a \u201ccommunity-led, non-police, unarmed emergency response\u201d program. University officials also rejected the proposal to bar federal immigration authorities from entering campus to carry out warrants.<\/p>\n<p><em>The College Fix<\/em> reached out to the labor union multiple times via email and Twitter in the past weeks about its demands but the group did not respond. It represents graduate student instructors and staff assistants.<\/p>\n<p>The university also rejected a demand for a $10,000 abortion fund and time off for abortions, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/hr.umich.edu\/working-u-m\/my-employment\/academic-human-resources\/contracts\/geo-negotiations\/geo-updates-current-bargaining-sessions\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">notes<\/a> from the January 27 bargaining session. \u201cPeople who can conceive are still at risk for losing legal access to abortion in Michigan,\u201d the union wrote in its \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.geo3550.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Proposed-Contract-Changes-%E2%80%93-2022-2023-Campaign.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Platform Proposals<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">We showed up to support our disabled, trans, and BIPOC coworkers. How can UM have DEI and the \u2018spirit\u2019 of Dr. King if it doesn\u2019t pay its Black &#8211; or Latinx or indigenous- grad workers living wages? If it continues to extract our labor and profit off our backs? <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/pvHk2xWcrF\">pic.twitter.com\/pvHk2xWcrF<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Graduate Employees&#8217; Organization at U-Michigan (@geo3550) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/geo3550\/status\/1617565187216752649?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 23, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Another session occurred last Friday, February 3, but no minutes have been posted yet.<\/p>\n<p>One demand included \u201cTransgender Healthcare\u201d because the union wanted to make it easier for its members to receive \u201cgender affirming care,\u201d such as Hormone Replacement Therapy, by eliminating the requirement for patients to have their gender dysphoria verified by a mental health care provider.<\/p>\n<p>Furthermore, the platform called for another full-time staff member for the Comprehensive Gender Services Program to reduce wait times for people looking to access \u201cgender affirming care\u201d through Michigan Medicine.<\/p>\n<p>The union efforts have the support of the campus socialist group.<\/p>\n<p>The UMich Young Democratic Socialists of America chapter regularly shares social media content supportive of the union\u2019s demands.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">We\u2019re hosting the teach-in!!! RSVP and keep an eye out for details \ud83e\udd29\ud83c\udf39\u2728 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/AeOOwVijZo\">https:\/\/t.co\/AeOOwVijZo<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 YDSA\ud83c\udf39 @ U\u303d\ufe0fich (@YDSAUMich) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/YDSAUMich\/status\/1620547462976131072?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 31, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>A member of GEO also spoke at a recent YDSA meeting, according to an Instagram post.<\/p>\n<p>However, not all University of Michigan students are sympathetic to the union. In a message to <em>The Fi<\/em>x, Charles Hilu, the chairman of the Young Americans for Freedom chapter criticized the union as a vehicle for left-wing politics. Hilu also writes for <em>The College Fix<\/em> and is editor-in-chief of <em>The Michigan Review<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe problem with many of GEO\u2019s demands is that, in their current form, they serve as a vehicle for a left-wing political agenda that goes far beyond demanding better pay and working conditions,\u201d Hilu told <em>The Fix<\/em>. \u201cThe union delegitimizes itself by asking for free gender transitions and disarming campus security.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>MORE:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thecollegefix.com\/dartmouth-student-union-demands-27-hr-for-late-night-barista-jobs\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Dartmouth student union demands $27\/hr to make coffee at night<\/a><\/p>\n<p>IMAGE: GEO 3550\/Twitter<\/p>\n            <div class=\"article-truncate-control\">\n                <button class=\"show-complete-article\">\n                    Read More                <\/button>\n            <\/div>\n\n        ","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Negotiations between campus officials and GEO set to continue through April.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1262,"featured_media":122022,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1085,1077],"tags":[21,48052,48053,544,1357,27410],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.thecollegefix.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/GEO3550.Twitter72.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2Oh4L-vK1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thecollegefix.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122017"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thecollegefix.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thecollegefix.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thecollegefix.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1262"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thecollegefix.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=122017"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.thecollegefix.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122017\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":122058,"href":"https:\/\/www.thecollegefix.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122017\/revisions\/122058"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thecollegefix.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/122022"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thecollegefix.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=122017"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thecollegefix.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=122017"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thecollegefix.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=122017"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}