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LEO's Latest News
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Friday, 13 January 2012 16:07 |
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The Graduate Employees' Organization (GEO) at the University of Michigan will hold a press conference at noon, Wednesday, January 18, as part of a campaign against the firing of a Graduate Student Research Assistant. GEO contends that the GSRA was terminated and kicked out of her academic program for union organizing at the University of Michigan.
The press conference will take place outside the Lurie Engineering Center, 1221 Beal Ave, Ann Arbor.
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LEO's Latest News
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Friday, 16 December 2011 13:50 |
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Marjorie Lynn (foreground) and other LEO members answering the phones to help Detroit Public TV.
Hats off to Ivan Kernisky (LEO Dearborn) who organized LEO volunteers to raise money for Detroit Public TV by taking telephone pledges on-the-air on Wednesday, December 14. "The phone-a-thon was Ivan's brainchild," said LEO activist and organizer Beth Hay. "He met with members personally to recruit volunteers and, through his efforts and contributions, insured a glitch-free event."
LEO's night at the fundraiser included lots of on-air face time of the LEO volunteers answering phones in our bright yellow LEO t-shirts, regular on-screen thank-yous to LEO at each break, a brief interview with spokesperson Elizabeth Axelson, other mentions by the hosts, and more. All in all, it was a great evening with a great bunch of LEO members!
Click the "Read more" link to view additional photos. (All photographs by Beth Hay.)
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LEO's Latest News
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Monday, 12 December 2011 11:21 |
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Big Rapids, MI—Nontenure-track faculty at Ferris State University will conduct a “grade-in” at the university president’s office today to publicize their precarious employment status, low pay, and lack of health care. Hired on a semester-by-semester basis, many of them will lose their jobs next week. Ineligible for unemployment, they will be without an income during the upcoming holidays. Many teaching full-time at the university do not have health insurance.
The event follows an emergency membership meeting of the year-old Ferris Nontenure-Track Faculty Organization (FNTFO). At the meeting, the membership voted to “authorize FNTFO leadership to take job action up to and including stoppage of work starting Dec. 7 until the FNTFO/FSU contract is settled.”
FNTFO and FSU have been negotiating a contract for nearly a year. A state-appointed mediator has attended the bargaining sessions for several months, but little progress has been made on three key issues including job security, health benefits and pay rates.
Many of the faculty members who will be losing their jobs have worked at Ferris for decades, but according to the university are only “temporary” employees who are hired and fired each semester. After nearly a month without pay, most faculty members hope Ferris will rehire them Jan. 9, but there are no guarantees of future employment.
It was this uncertainty and lack of security in their job status that prompted the faculty members to vote to form a union in the Summer of 2010.
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