In an op-ed in today's Michigan Daily, GEO President Liz Rodrigues and LEO President Bonnie Halloran express their "extreme concern" about the UM administration's secretive shared services planning:

As presidents of the Graduate Employees Organization and the Lecturers' Employee Organization, we must express our extreme concern regarding the Administration Services Transformation Project, euphemistically referred to as a "shared services" model. This model means that University employees in a wide range of financial and human resources positions are currently being required to reapply for new and fewer redesigned positions with no guarantee of rehire. Whether at this stage of the projector the next, some staff members will lose their jobs and others will be moved to a different employment unit. Reapplication is a degrading and fear-producing experience for workers.

Viewpoint: Share government, not services, Michigan Daily, November 22, 2013.

(Also see Shared Services Backlash, Inside Higher Ed, November 21, 2013.)

(Also see the letter to LEO members by President Bonnie Halloran.)

The LEO Annual Membership Convention convened on the UM-Dearborn campus on Saturday, October 26.

Brief Minutes:

• --Played the LEO Trivia Game as an ice-breaker.
• --Celebrated our 10th Anniversary with a toast and account of our many accomplishments.
• --Table groups reviewed and revised draft document of "LEO Goals 2013-18."
• --PAC, Communication, Finance, Organizing & Grievance Committees all presented plans.
• --Table groups reviewed and revised committee plans for 2013-18.
• 2014 LEO Budget was finalized and approved.
• --Lunch and awards:

Lifetime Achievement Award - Elizabeth Axelson
Lifetime Achievement Award - Jan Worth
Outstanding Grievance Officer (Dearborn) - Barb Matthei
Sprit Award - Lila Naydan
True Blue Award - Ranjanpreet Nagra

The Strategic Plan will go through one more revision process on November 19th & 20th, at our Membership meetings.

All members attending the convention received a handsome mug commenorating the union's 10th anniversary!

LEO members vote to approve the 2014 budget.

LEO Matters needs writers! Writing for the newsletter is a fun and easy way to get involved in your union. Get in touch with LEO Matters co-editor Jamie Jones if you have a few hours to give this year. Send an email to Jamie at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .