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GEO walk-out slows campus: picketing slated to continue

Summer vacation did not start early yesterday, but many halls and classrooms were empty across Central Campus in the first day of picketing by members of the Graduate Employees Organization.

The administration and GEO bargaining teams failed to reach a contract agreement in last week's non-stop bargaining session. Union members launched a two-day walk-out, which ends today.

GEO spokesperson Pete Church said the administration should take notice of the strong support for GEO and graduate student instructors in yesterday's picketing.

"We had Skilled Trades (Association) contact us, and two of the construction sites shut down to honor our picket lines," Church said. "Our assessment is that the University should take a look around the campus and judge for themselves the impact that GSIs have on the University community."

Provost J. Bernard Machen sent a letter to all faculty members and GSIs on April 1 about the status of GEO negotiations and the administration's response to the walk-out.

"I am deeply concerned about this (walkout) because of the severe adverse impact that a work stoppage would have on all our students, but particularly undergraduates," Machen wrote in the letter.

Machen said yesterday he hopes this week's state-supervised mediation will settle the contract debate.

"Well, I think we're down to a few issues," Machen said. "I am hopeful that mediation is the step to finish negotiations."

The administration and GEO bargaining teams are scheduled to enter mediation on April 10 and 11. The contested issues are wage percent increases and international GSI training.

Picketers said they are taking their cause to the street because bargaining talks have been unfair and stagnant.

"I am out here because I feel the administration has given us no other choice than to talk to them in this fashion," said American culture GSI Rebecca Poyourow. "The negotiations seemed to have been stalled and not entered into in good faith."

Poyourow said she understands students may be dismayed with the walk-out, but she said it is necessary.

"There really is no good time for this (walk-out)," Poyourow said. "I'm very sympathetic to students who say that this is difficult, but I think the situation poses difficult choices."

GEO steering committee member Sandy Piderit said GEO has enough support to execute a stike if needed.

"We're optimistic about mediation," Piderit said. "It's pretty clear from the number of people that we have staffed that we could do something more serious if mediation doesn't resolve this."

Political Science GSI John Squier said he does not agree with the GEO walkout vote and is not picketing with fellow GSIs.

"I'm not against GEO, but I think it's a very ill-considered decision on their part (to walk out)," Squier said. "I think it's going to hurt GEO's credibility."

Squier said he does not share GEO's sentiments about wages and benefits.

"I agree with the fact that we should have a union, but it's a serious tactical error to portray (GSIs) as workers in a Chrysler plant or something," Squier said.

"In addition to our salary and benefits, we get our tuition paid for."

Some students said they do not appreciate the effect of a two-day walkout on reducing class time.

"The undergraduates' biggest effect is money, and the University already has that," said LSA junior Ephraim Simon. "If GEO wants our money, the undergraduates have already forgone a crucial step by allowing their parents to pay it."

LSA first-year student Allen Mikhail agreed undergraduates should not be caught in between the administration and GEO.

"I pay out-of-state tuition, and I came here for education," Mikhail said. "They are using us as pawns for bargaining.

"I think there are other ways they could have shown their displeasure."

LSA sophomore Kyle Mathews said he fully supports the walkout because "I don't have to go to classes, and GEO has some legitimate issues."

Vice President for University Relations Walter Harrison said the University was unable to get a clear count of how many students, professors, and GSIs did not attend classes.

"I don't think there is any way of getting numbers," Harrison said. "From my personal observations many classes met (yesterday, but) my own class was about half of what it should be."

Some professors handled the situation of the walkout by holding classes off-campus.

Prof. Earl Lewis, who teaches History 161, met with his 200-person class in the Michigan Theater. He said the experience "proved to be a pretty good teaching opportunity."

"I've been teaching about a whole range of issues, including labor and management," Lewis said. "I felt a better way to dramatize the issue was to move it to a different setting."

Lewis said his GSI, Matthew Gladue, suggested moving the class to an off-campus location because students gave oral presentations regarding the issue of labor and management in yesterday's class.

"I had told them to make-believe they were engaged in a conversation about labor and management," Lewis said. "One of the groups talked about the current discussion."

Gladue said GEO paid for the expenses of renting the Michigan Theater.

"The Michigan Theater has certain operating costs that they had to meet, and the union paid for that," Gladue said.

Gladue said his session, which met yesterday, was studying "protest, dissent, and reaction in American history."

"I didn't want to ask students to ignore an act of protest happening right in front of them," Gladue said. "I wanted to make sure they had an opportunity to present their project on that day without crossing the picket line."