Fall Elections with GSOC!
Dear fellow members,
We will be holding elections for THREE different union positions in our Members meeting on July 19th at 4:30 pm. The positions up for election are 3 Organizing Committee Chairs (unpaid), Open Steward Positions in every district (unpaid), and 3 Fall Semester Unit Representative (paid!). If you are going to attend any members’ meeting, this is the one, we want a strong voting body for these positions!
All members are eligible to run for these positions. If you’d like to discuss the position with any of the current representatives, please use the online directory to get in touch.
OC Co-chairs:
Organizing Committee co-chairs (usually 2-3) are elected to build a strong union presence, keep the union organized and mobilized, and work towards maximum union participation and organize any issue campaigns that GSOC collectively decides to undertake. The OC chairs work with stewards, department leaders, rank-and-file members, as well as various committees to establish priorities and carry out campaigns.
This position is great for you if you: 1) have some experience in organizing, 2) strive to build a strong rank-and-file, 3) want to gain leadership skills.
Stewards:
A steward is a voluntary, elected position within a labor union, in this case our graduate worker union – GSOC. Stewards are elected to organize in and represent academic regions of NYU, which we call “turfs.” The main role of stewards to make sure the workers in their turf are building relationships with one another and with other GSOC members. There are 30 steward seats distributed across NYU schools. Stewards can file grievances and get access to information of workers in the departments to help their organizing efforts. Stewards also act as a representative of the group of workers they are elected to organize in GSOC decision making. Stewards should make sure to highlight turf specific interests or issues at the monthly Members’ meeting for discussion. In these monthly meetings, stewards and other GSOC organizers will collectively brainstorm on how best GSOC can be involved in and/or supportive of specific existing efforts and issues impacting graduate workers at NYU.
This position is great for you if you: 1) want to organize and build community within your department and school, and 2) have one to two hours a week to commit.
OPEN STEWARD SEATS IN EVERY DISTRICT:
GSAS Humanities and Social Sciences
GSAS STEM
Tandon
Steinhardt
Professional Schools (all other schools)
Unit Reps:
Unit Representatives are three paid positions granted to GSOC by our current contract with NYU. The unit reps are essential to GSOC’s day-to-day operations and organizing, and it can be a rewarding experience.
The position is for 20 hours a week and is equivalent to an adjunct instructor’s salary. Due to NYU work restrictions, you may not hold this position while employed in a separate teaching or hourly position. You must be a member of GSOC to run for this position, meaning that you have signed a union card. This position is great for you if you 1) would like to commit around 20 hours a week, and 2) want to hold NYU accountable to our new contract.
Any member interested in running for any of these positions should email gsoc@2110uaw.org by Sunday, July 17th at 6pm ET so that we can add your name to the ballot. All candidates will be asked to give a brief (30-60 second) statement at the election.
[See email to GSOC members for Zoom link.]
Even if you are not running, please send these openings to your friends and consider coming to this meeting so that we have as large a voting quorum as possible. See you at the Monthly Members meeting!
In solidarity, GSOC-UAW Local 2110