March 15th Members’ Newsletter
| Dear fellow members, Join us next Tuesday, March 22nd at 4:30 PM ET for our monthly member’s meeting! We will be electing new OC chairs, unit reps, and stewards. Read on for details on how to apply as well as updates about the tax and legal fund for international and immigrant workers, the out of pocket healthcare fund, back pay actions, and more. In this email: – Back Pay Action! – Member’s Meeting Agenda and Link 3/22 – Call for candidates – Paid and unpaid positions! – Upcoming Spring Labor Actions – Working group updates – Course Assistant Underpayment Back Pay Action! Our collective bargaining agreement with NYU—won after months of negotiations and a three-week strike—made many historic gains.One of these is the payment of retroactive wages and vacation pay for hourly workers, along with service bonuses for salaried semester-based employees.But nine months after our contract was ratified in May 2021, thousands of graduate employees still have not received the money they are owed. Since late summer 2021, NYU has repeatedly delayed and mismanaged these payments. After months of meetings, emails, and even a grievance filed by the union, NYU has refused even to give an estimated timeline of outstanding payments.This is unacceptable. We’re telling NYU: it’s past time to pay grad workers! Read and Sign the Open Letter |
| Hundreds of hourly workers have received only partial back pay, or none at all. Several thousand employees are owed service bonuses and/or vacation pay dating back to fall 2020. Together these represent hundreds of thousands of dollars that NYU owes its workers.Amid ongoing pandemic disruptions and rising living costs, these payments represent a lifeline for many workers. NYU is failing to meet basic obligations to its employees as established in our contract. In our open letter, we call on Provost Katherine Fleming and university administrators to: Process all payments by the end of the Spring 2022 semester Commit to a detailed timeline for disbursal of payments Meet with elected GSOC representatives to discuss back pay Sign and share our open letter today! And if you have questions about back pay you might be owed, email gsoc@2110uaw.org.  Monthly Members MeetingTuesday, March 22nd at 4:30 PM ET for a discussion on back pay actions, elections for both paid and unpaid positions, working group updates, upcoming union events, and more. Unit reps, Local 2110 reps, Organizing Committee members, and stewards will be in attendance. Call for Candidates If you are interested in running for any of the open unit rep, OC co-chair, or steward positions, email gsoc@2110uaw.org by Sunday, March 20, at 12 pm ET! (Not Feb 20, as mistakenly stated in a previous email) Want to add GSOC events to your calendar? Subscribe to our google calendar here https://bit.ly/GSOCcalendar |
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| Heads Up for On-Campus Spring Labor Action! Multiple groups of workers on campus need our support right now. Adjuncts from ACT-UAW Local 7902 are preparing to negotiate their new contract with NYU. Contract faculty workers (non-adjunct and non-tenure-track professors) have led a successful card signing drive and are getting ready to ask NYU for voluntary recognition of their union. STEM Research assistants just announced their intention to unionize. But as we know, NYU will not go down without a fight. Combined with our current struggle for back pay and other issues, workers at NYU need to be united more than ever before! We will share more information about how these struggles are linked and what you can do to support workers on campus in the coming weeks. Keep an eye out for events and other info on social media at @GSOCUAW.Working Groups Want to add GSOC events to your calendar? Subscribe to our google calendar here https://bit.ly/GSOCcalendar Communications Committee The communications committee is looking for more help! We handle the website, social media, emails, graphic design, and discord for GSOC. As the semester comes to a close, we are looking for someone who knows discord to serve as an admin and a new webmaster familiar with mailchimp. If interested in getting involved in any way, please contact Abigail Manville at manville.abigail@gmail.com International and Immigrant Working group Join the International and Immigrant Working Group on April 4th at 1:00 PM ET as we plan the distribution model for the International Worker Tax and Legal Services Fund! https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84327954712 Got questions? Contact Lee B. Diaz or Guilherme Meyer, or tag the group with the @ sign in our GSOC Discord channel! Not on Discord? Click here to join: https://discord.gg/y5WmqzuCqu. This is where we communicate and organize every day. Hardship Working Group GSOC’s Hardship Working group is seeking people to help organize around Mutual Aid! This might include fundraising or emotional support, along with helping the group develop organizing strategy to address student debt at NYU. If you’re interested, please fill out this form and join us at one of our Friday morning meetings at 10am on Zoom! For any questions, feel free to email Antara Nader at antaranader@gmail.com Zoom link here: https://nyu.zoom.us/j/93780434121 Interest form https://forms.gle/pMsqtBUeoii97ca77 We also welcome any involvement in committees or working groups.Committees include the Organizing Committee, Communications, Bylaws, and Political Solidarity. Working groups include Accountability, Grievances, Press, Anti-Oppression, International and Immigrant Workers, Healthcare, Childcare and Family, Hardship, and Health and Safety. Course Assistants (CAs) We have noticed a widespread issue of some CAs across many departments receiving incorrect pay for their past and present appointments, going as far back as Fall 2020. We filed a grievance on this matter and continue to review new cases. As of January 15th, NYU has denied the grievance, but we will be moving forward in the process. The union maintains that CAs are hourly employees and should be making a minimum of $26.75/hour this AY. If you are a CA and are or have been paid a lump sum rather than at an hourly rate, please email gsoc@2110uaw.org so we can include you in this grievance. Higher Education Labor United HELU is looking for organizers! If you are interested in labor law, politics, organizing, or just passionate about the higher education climate, please consider joining one of their committees! https://higheredlaborunited.org/about/committees/. Final Notes If you’d like to stay up to date on backpay distribution, or to volunteer with other students to help make sure all GSOC workers receive their backpay properly, join the GSOC Discord by filling out this organizing form. If you have specific questions, email your Unit Representatives at gsoc@2110uaw.org or contact your steward (you can find your steward’s email on our website by clicking on their name). Please check your appointment letters! If there is a suspected underpayment issue or any missing information (e.g., expected average workload, start and end date of the appointment), email your Unit Representatives at gsoc@2110uaw.org. In solidarity, GSOC-UAW Local 2110 |
