List of Nominations for Bargaining and Executive Council

Updated 2/25/2022 at 11:00 am EST

Nominations closed at 11:59 pm EST on Friday February 25th. Late nominations will be accepted only for the Lead Organizer for Graduate Student Assistants Serving in Hourly Positions, which had no nominations at the time of closing. Please email elections@wearegage.org to nominate.

Please find below the list of eligible nomination submissions for Bargaining Team and Executive Council. The Elections Committee will update this post with eligible nominations on a regular basis until the nomination deadline. We emailed nominees on Saturday morning, February 26th, to ask them to accept or decline their nomination.

Nominations for Bargaining Team

Bargaining Team Member for Graduate Student Assistants Serving in Hourly Positions

• Beryl Nana Ama Akuffo-Kwapong, Master of Public Policy Program

• Nick Gonzalez, Master of Public Policy Program

Bargaining Team Member for Natural and Biomedical Sciences Degree Programs

• Charles Davis, Biology PhD program

• Brady Thexton, Biology PhD program

• Thy Doan Mai Le, Physics PhD program

• Wayan Fontaine-Seiler, Physics PhD program

Bargaining Team Member for Humanities and Languages Degree Programs

• Jack Pruett, Linguistics PhD program

• Dominick Cooper, Philosophy PhD program

• Chun Hin (Jeffrey) Tsoi, Philosophy PhD program

Bargaining Team Member for Social Sciences Degree Programs

• Brent McDonnell, History PhD program

• Daniel Solomon, Government PhD program

Nominations for Executive Council

President

• Dominick Cooper, Philosophy PhD program

Vice President

• Margaret Weng, Biology PhD program

Treasurer

• Mara Helig, Treasurer

Secretary

• Ellen Jacobs, Biology PhD program

• Wayan Fontaine-Seiler, Physics PhD program

Grievance Officer

• Vaughn Shirey, Biology PhD program

Lead Organizer for Graduate Student Assistants Serving in Hourly Positions

• None

Lead Organizer for Natural and Biomedical Sciences Degree Programs

• Sidhant Saraogi, Computer Science PhD program

Lead Organizer for Humanities and Languages Degree Programs

• Hannah Fedder Williams, Linguistics PhD program

Lead Organizer for Social Sciences Degree Programs

• Theodore Landsman, Government PhD program

GAGE supports booster mandate

Earlier this week, the University administration announced a COVID-19 vaccine booster requirement for the spring semester. In light of COVID’s persistence and the new Omicron variant, vaccines---including the booster---are necessary to keep graduate workers, our communities, and our families and friends healthy and safe. Last summer, 74 percent of graduate students expressed support for universal COVID-19 vaccine mandates, and we re-affirm that now by supporting the booster requirement. Noting that this announcement comes after the end of the Fall semester classes, we call on the University administration to make this policy as easy as possible to follow by making boosters widely available to all community members in the coming weeks.

We are optimistic that measures such as vaccines and indoor masking and the Washington, DC, area’s low transmission rates will allow us to continue in-person research and teaching safely. We will continue to discuss working conditions with GAGE Department Organizers and watch the situation closely to ensure that graduate workers feel safe at Georgetown. If you have concerns about your health and safety in the classroom, lab, or other workspace, please reach out at organizing@wearegage.org

In Solidarity,

GAGE Executive Council

Extension of COVID Side Agreements for Spring 2022

As we look ahead to the next semester, we are in talks with the university about extending the COVID Side Agreements that we negotiated with Georgetown last spring to protect graduate workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. By extending these side agreements, we ensure that you have access to the rights and protections necessary to complete your work without significant risk of COVID transmission or infection.

Here are a few highlights of the side agreements as we look towards the Spring 2022 semester:

Safe working conditions on campus

If you feel the University is falling short in its enforcement of public health measures on campus, you can use our Union grievance procedure to resolve these issues. Teaching assistants and instructors of record have the right to consult with their supervisor about the conditions in which they are required to conduct in-person classes. In the classroom, they have the right to enforce public health protocols - including the mask requirement - and close class due to non-compliant students.

Equipment for remote teaching

For instructors working remotely, the University will provide technology equipment as a short-term loan to graduate workers or arrange for the purchase of this equipment at no cost to the worker. If you require this technology, please get in touch with us at organizing@wearegage.org so we can help you make the request. Importantly, this is not a reimbursement process and our Emergency Assistance Fund is no longer able to cover technology purchases required for work at Georgetown, so make sure to pursue this option before making a purchase.

Isolation housing

The University will assist any graduate student who needs isolation or quarantine space due to exposure to COVID-19. If you test positive through the University-mandated COVID-19 testing protocol, you will be automatically connected with a University Care Navigator to receive assistance.

If you think you’ve experienced something in your work that our COVID side agreements might address, you should fill out a workplace issue form or contact your Lead Organizer directly.

GAGE Statement on Vaccine Mandates and Fall 2021 Re-Opening

As you are well aware by now, the University administration has implemented COVID-19 vaccine and mask requirements for all Georgetown faculty, staff, and students on campus this fall semester. As the fall semester approaches, we express our support for these requirements. These decisions were influenced by a GAGE survey conducted earlier this summer and communicated to the University administration, in which 74 percent of graduate students expressed support for universal COVID-19 vaccine mandates on Georgetown’s campus and 62 percent expressed support for mask requirements. These public health measures are essential to protect graduate workers from the widespread transmission of the Delta variant across the United States.

We are optimistic that these measures and the Washington, DC, area’s low transmission rates will allow us to resume in-person research and teaching safely this fall. We will continue to discuss working conditions with GAGE Department Organizers and watch the situation closely to ensure that graduate workers feel safe at Georgetown. If you have concerns about your health and safety in the classroom, lab, or other workspace, please reach out at organizing@wearegage.org.

In Solidarity,
GAGE Executive Council

We are hiring a staff organizer!

We are excited to begin our search for a staff organizer to support our union! The staff organizer will be an essential part of our efforts to build a strong community of graduate workers ahead of our next contract campaign, and to make GAGE a force for solidarity activism in the DC area.

JOB DESCRIPTION:

Position: Staff Organizer

This position supports the Georgetown Alliance of Graduate Employees (GAGE, Local 06440, AFT, AFL-CIO). The Georgetown Alliance of Graduate Employees (GAGE, Local 6440, AFT, AFL-CIO) is the union of graduate teaching assistants, research assistants, and instructors of record at Georgetown University in Washington, DC. We seek an experienced staff organizer to assist our efforts to organize and recruit members, plan campaigns, and build relationships with other labor unions and movement organizations in the Washington, DC area.

About Us 

The Georgetown Alliance of Graduate Employees (GAGE) is the labor union for graduate student assistants at Georgetown University. We seek to empower graduate workers and ensure that they have an equal partnership in decisions that shape their future.

We formally affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers in 2017, and in 2018, Georgetown graduate students voted overwhelmingly to unionize.

In May 2020, we signed our first-ever labor contract with Georgetown University, winning significant wage and benefit improvements to help all graduate workers weather the coronavirus, combat the spiraling cost of living in the nation’s capital and provide sorely needed job security in uncertain times.

We are now looking for the right person to help us take the next steps in our journey and continue to make a real difference in the lives of graduate workers at Georgetown.

Contract Term

This is a three-year contract position, with the possibility of renewal. We expect the Staff Organizer will start no later than September 1, 2021.

Reports To:

GAGE President and Vice President

Salary and Benefits

Salary is between $55,000 - 60,000 per year, commensurate with experience, with an annual 2 percent salary increase. The employee will receive pay twice per month. Health benefits include full healthcare, dental, and vision insurance coverage. Leave benefits include 120 hours of paid annual vacation leave and 80 hours of paid annual sick leave.

Location

We offer a flexible working environment, and recognize that candidates may come to this role with a diverse range of health and family circumstances. Although we encourage remote work and flexible schedules---we’re graduate workers, after all!---the Staff Organizer should expect to participate in in-person organizing meetings and events on campus during the academic year.

Responsibilities

The Staff Organizer will be responsible for working with the GAGE Executive Council to coordinate and implement the union’s organizing strategy. These responsibilities include:

• Developing and implementing an effective network of Department Organizers at Georgetown;

• Working with the President, Vice President, and Lead Organizers to set and implement organizing and membership goals;

• Working with the Vice President, Lead Organizers, and Department Organizers to plan advocacy campaigns around labor issues at Georgetown;

• Working with the Secretary and Treasurer to track membership dues and participation in organizing actions using the AFT Connect database;

• Facilitating GAGE coordination with and participation in organizing coalitions in the Washington, DC area;

Qualifications

• At least 3 - 5 years of experience in designing and implementing union grassroots or other community organizing programs, especially among graduate students or other employees at academic institutions;

• A demonstrated writing ability and the ability to communicate clear goals and objectives to both members and other organizations;

• Experience with tracking membership and organizing participation; experience with the AFT Connect database is a plus;

• Working knowledge of Washington, DC-based organizing coalitions is a plus;

• Experience using Microsoft Office or Google Drive programs in the context of organizing work, especially Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets;

• Ability to work well with groups and individuals with a wide variety of personalities, needs, and occupations;

Working Conditions:

• The work will involve a combination of in-person and remote job responsibilities;

• The staff organizer should be able to attend meetings and regular organizing sessions on the Georgetown University campus in Washington, DC on a weekly basis; 

• Although we try to minimize work outside of normal business hours, we are comfortable with a flexible schedule and may ask the staff organizer to be available for occasional weekend events.

GAGE is committed to creating a diverse environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. Please contact us at president@wearegage.org (cc: secretary@wearegage.org) if you need assistance or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during the application process.

To apply, please direct a resume, 1-page cover letter, and the names and contact information of three references to: president@wearegage.org (cc: secretary@wearegage.org). Applications are due July 20.

Welcome to GAGE's New Executive Council!

Welcome to the new GAGE Executive Council! For the next calendar year, these Executive Council officers will work to organize and represent graduate student workers, implement our contract and COVID-19 side agreements, and ensure that we have an equal partnership in decisions that shape our future and the future of Georgetown University.

You can read the full description of duties for each Executive Council position and the biographies of each officer on our website: www.wearegage.org/executive-council.

President: Daniel Solomon, Government PhD candidate

“As President, I look forward to deepening our organizing power among hourly Master’s workers, expanding our efforts to educate members about our contract rights, and broadening our organizing and solidarity activism around racial and climate justice issues. These efforts will ensure that we’re well-positioned to demand an ambitious new contract in 2023.”

Vice President: Dominick Cooper, Philosophy PhD student

“I affirm that effective organizing only happens when all grad workers at Georgetown are engaged with one another, within and across departments, and are ready to act in solidarity with one another, to protect and further promote the conditions of our working lives and communities that allow us all to thrive.”

Treasurer: Genevieve Hayman, Philosophy PhD candidate

“I believe that through the collective voice of graduate workers advocating for each other’s safety and security, we can make a tangible impact in the lives of all graduate student workers at Georgetown.”

Secretary: Jeffrey Tsoi, JD/Philosophy PhD student

“My vision for GAGE is to continue defending the rights of graduate workers and students, representing their diverse voice, and building an inclusive space for all. As part of the executive council, I wish to remind international graduate workers and students through my role that we are as much a part of the Georgetown community as local students - no amount of visa restriction should tell you otherwise.”

Grievance Officer: Vaughn Shirey, Biology PhD candidate

“I am excited to leverage the grievance committee to hold the university accountable through actively monitoring university implementation of all contract elements and assist in establishing a network of emotional first aid, mutual aid, and reconciliation resources for workers impacted by contract violation or other workplace issues.”

Lead Organizer for the Natural and Biomedical Sciences: Jeremy Canfield, Physics PhD student

“As Lead Organizer, I view myself not as a leader, but a representative. I seek to serve as a lens to focus the view of labor justice and the spirit of graduate workers at Georgetown into the best organizing possible to achieve a more just, more life-affirming, more fulfilling workplace, Georgetown community, and world.”

Lead Organizer for Graduate Student Assistants Serving in Hourly Positions: Matthew Ring, Data Science for Public Policy Masters student

“We structure our lives around work, but unions like GAGE let us structure work around our lives. My vision for GAGE is of a broad, sustainable coalition of workers that is member-centric, develops a culture of solidarity, and holds Georgetown to its ideal of cura personalis.”

New COVID-19 Side Agreements

Throughout the pandemic, the University Administration has been inconsistent in its application of new policies, causing uncertainty and displacement for graduate workers whose lives the pandemic has already upended. Instead of accepting unfair policies, you signed petitions, attended rallies, and made phone calls. Together we demonstrated the collective power of our union and now we have a series of COVID-19 side agreements that will provide us with the protections we deserve! 

These agreements respond to the challenges that you’ve raised in organizing conversations, testimonies, and survey responses. The agreements give us a way to hold the University Administration accountable for the impact that its policy changes have on our lives and work. 

Here are highlights of the COVID-19 rights and protections that we’ve secured:

• Guaranteed protections for graduate research assistants currently working on campus, including free parking on campus and help accessing free emergency isolation housing;

• University support to TAs and instructors of record who need to purchase new technology to complete their teaching responsibilities; and

• In anticipation of hybrid courses, transparent and guaranteed rights for TAs and instructors of record who are assigned to in-person components.

If you think you’ve experienced something in the workplace that these new agreements might address, you should fill out a workplace issue form or contact your Lead Organizer directly. 

The agreement is a useful tool, but it’s only as effective as our organizing makes it. We expect that the University is looking to expand in-person teaching and research this summer and into the fall semester, as vaccines become more widely available and—with any luck—the pace of COVID-19’s spread slows. To ensure that we can have full choice over the risks we take as graduate workers, we need a strong union that builds power around the experiences of our members and the actions we take to protect our health, safety, and financial well-being. Continuing to protect the health and livelihoods of graduate workers will require the same impassioned organizing through which we won these agreements. 

We Won Arbitration!

Amid a seemingly endless stream of bad news and troubling events, we write to share with you some great news. We won our grievance!

The arbitrator affirmed that GAGE has the right to bargain towards a written agreement about the impact of COVID-19 on our working conditions. He determined that the administration at Georgetown violated our contract by unilaterally ending negotiations with GAGE and refusing to sign a written agreement to protect our health, safety, and livelihoods.

Following this victory, we have submitted a new request to the university to bargain over the impact of its COVID-19 policy changes. The pandemic is dragging into its second year, and graduate workers remain at risk of getting COVID-19 and are facing the dramatic consequences of a global recession.

The arbitrator’s decision reflects the hard work that you and our union community have done in the last six months to organize graduate workers and call attention to the shortcomings of the administration’s COVID-19 policies as they impact our lives and livelihoods. To win an agreement that protects graduate workers through the end of the pandemic, we need to make sure the university sees and hears that power!

This decision sets an important example for graduate workers across the United States. Across the country, graduate workers continue to face down administrators who are willing to sacrifice their health and safety for the university’s bottom-line. Let’s work together to ensure that Georgetown isn’t one of them.

Help Us Improve Mental Health Care Resources at Georgetown!

GAGE is working on improving mental health care for graduate workers and the broader campus community. With GAGE’s input, CAPS has launched a new community referral database. But there’s more to do! Our contract provides a strong foundation for improving mental health resources for graduate workers at Georgetown. We invite GAGE members to join our new Mental Health Care Team.

New Mental Health Care Resource

CAPS has partnered with The Shrink Space to help students connect with off-campus mental health care providers. It includes providers within Georgetown’s local network as well as a nationwide network of providers who work with graduate students.

Georgetown is providing this new resource directly in response to our contract. Article 28 on Mental Health Care states that Georgetown must provide graduate workers with an up-to-date directory of external mental healthcare providers and mental health navigation services. This semester, GAGE and Georgetown representatives discussed this new resource and other mental health care issues in a meeting of the Labor Management Committee. The Shrink Space resource is in addition to referrals that graduate students can request from CAPS.

Join the Mental Health Care Team of the GAGE Organizers’ Council

We’re forming a new team to work on improving mental healthcare resources. The team will:

• Survey GAGE members about their experience with mental health resources and collect feedback on resources on an ongoing basis

• Collaborate with other campus groups working on mental health (e.g., GUSA, Black Survivors Coalition)

• Track progress on the mental health care goals set in Article 28 of our contract

• Join discussions on mental health care in Labor Management Committee meetings (once per semester, or more frequent only if needed)

Interested in joining the team? Get in touch with your Department Organizer or by email!

General Membership Meeting 12-1.30 PM on Tuesday, September 29

We’ll be hosting a General Membership Meeting over Zoom on Tuesday, September 29, from 12 to 1.30 PM (EDT).

 Members of GAGE have the right to attend and make their voice heard. RSVP links for the membership meeting have been emailed.

The agenda for the meeting on the 29th will cover the following topics:

• Our Union’s budget for the coming year.

• Arbitration and our campaign for a fair COVID-19 agreement with Georgetown.

• Our response to the proposed Department of Homeland Security (DHS) regulation regarding student visa.

• Our plans for enforcing our contract, including information about the grievance process and the Emergency Assistance Fund.

For those who want to learn more about how to get involved as a department organizer (DO) or our work on racial equity and justice, international student rights, or master’s students issues, we have scheduled breakout sessions immediately after the meeting. GAGE members can access a full copy of the agenda for the meeting through a link in their email.

The only voting item on the agenda Tuesday will be whether to approve our budget for the coming year. Like we did with our contract and our constitution and bylaws, voting will occur online through OpaVote. Polls will open at the beginning of the meeting on the 29th, and they will remain open till 5 PM (EDT) on Thursday, October 2. We will be sending an electronic ballot along with copies of the budget and a short presentation from the Finance Committee to every member at their non-GU email address. GAGE members can contact the Elections Committee to verify their non-GU email address at elections@wearegage.org.

I am happy to answer any questions about the agenda for the coming meeting. GAGE members, check your email for the RSVP link.

In solidarity,

Gerald Taylor, Secretary 

GAGE prepares for arbitration with GU over COVID-19 concerns

Georgetown University’s COVID-19 plans and policies have profoundly impacted the graduate work experience. Throughout the summer, we made sure that the administration heard graduate workers’ concerns both through public forums and in bargaining meetings. At present, they have failed to adequately address our concerns, and they have reneged on their contractual commitments to our union by denying our union right to bargain.

Thursday morning we met with representatives of the administration in an attempt to resolve our fundamental dispute over our union right to bargain a COVID-19 agreement, a formal document that would be separate and distinct from our contract. At this meeting, the administration continued to insist they are not obligated to bargain with GAGE on these issues. We are beginning preparations to take this disagreement to a third-party arbitrator. We will seek to reaffirm that the administration is obligated to bargain with GAGE on the impact of the administration’s COVID-19 reopening policies on graduate work at Georgetown.

Here we’d like to recap what we are fighting for in a COVID-19 agreement and explain what it means to go to arbitration. We ask that you sign our open letter to show support for our arbitration case and impact bargaining campaign. 

COVID-19 Impact Bargaining

GAGE initiated the process of impact bargaining in mid-July to seek resolution with the administration over COVID-19 policies that have caused graduate workers at Georgetown intense amounts of frustration, fear, and uncertainty. Impact bargaining is separate from our contract and would set policies for the duration for pandemic, whether it ends in time for the Spring 2021 semester or lasts later into 2021 (or beyond). Impact bargaining leads to binding agreements such as a Letter of Agreement, Memorandum of Understanding, Side Agreement, or a combination of these. Unions regularly negotiate such agreements in response to new developments like the COVID-19 pandemic, as shown by the side letters negotiated by the graduate union at Brown University, and the memorandum of understanding the faculty union won at the University of Florida. The graduate union at New York University is currently impact bargaining and the graduate workers of the University of Michigan just completed an 8-day  strike over their administration’s unwillingness to meet their bargaining demands for a fair and just response to the pandemic. 

The administration must bargain with GAGE to ensure COVID-19 policies protect rather than harm graduate workers. Our proposals sought to:

• Guarantee remote work for all graduate workers regardless of their location;

• Provide sick leave to graduate workers--especially those in hourly positions--who contract COVID-19;

• Secure the University’s commitment to cover the cost of public health protections, including COVID-19 testing, for graduate workers on campus; and

• Protect the legal rights of graduate workers under the administration’s Community Compact.

When we sent our demand for impact bargaining, we expected a swift process that would yield a formal agreement to improve upon current policies that we know fail to address graduate workers’ needs. We expected that, in line with the values espoused in Georgetown’s Just Employment Policy, the administration would want to bargain in good faith to achieve consensus on an agreement that would protect the health and safety of graduate workers. Instead, the administration denied our right to bargain. 

We have to ask ourselves: if the administration believes that GAGE doesn’t have the right to bargain over the impacts from changes due to an unprecedented global crisis, when would they ever believe that we have the right to do so? We cannot abide cynical and disingenuous attacks by the administration on our right to collectively push for safe and appropriate working conditions.

Arbitration

Arbitration is our recourse for disputes on which we cannot come to a resolution with the Administration. GAGE’s team is working with experts and lawyers at the American Federation of Teachers, our national union, to document the administration’s attempts to play fast and loose with our right to bargain collectively. If the arbitrator rules in our favor, then the administration will have to bargain with us in an effort to reach an agreement. We expect to win our case. But, there’s no guarantee. A lot makes the results of arbitration uncertain, including the anti-labor policies of the Trump-appointed National Labor Relations Board. If the arbitrator rules in the administration’s favor, that only means that we are exactly where we are now: relying on our collective power to face down an administration that, despite its much-touted commitment to workers’ rights, is willing to rely on the anti-labor policies of the Trump administration.

Since mid-July, we’ve organized to pressure the administration to respect our collective power and address our demands. Without a way to guarantee the accountability that we’ve fought for, the administration’s policies will continue to fail graduate workers when they should be protecting our health and livelihoods.

We’re confident about our case at arbitration, but we also know that whatever happens, our organizing is what will determine the administration’s willingness to negotiate a COVID-19 agreement with us. 

We recognize that you may have questions about our proposals, our interactions with the administration since July, or how the arbitration process works for Unions like GAGE. You can refer to our Impact Bargaining FAQ and you are welcome to contact us.

In solidarity,

Jewel Tomasula, President, and Daniel Solomon, Vice President

Update on Impact Bargaining from GAGE President

At our session Thursday August 6th, the Georgetown administration violated its commitment to protecting graduate workers from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. After receiving our impact-bargaining proposals to protect graduate workers, the administration told us during a bargaining session that graduate workers do not deserve to have a voice in our health, safety, and livelihoods.

The administration is counting on our silence as they adopt policies that will increase our risk of COVID-19 exposure and threaten our jobs despite a nationwide recession. Watch our President Jewel Tomasula describe the administration’s short-sighted attempts to keep graduate workers in the dark.

By excluding our Union from policy plans that threaten our health and safety, the administration is demonstrating its disregard for our well-being. But, we know that if we organize together, we have the power to win protections that will reduce COVID-19 risks for graduate workers and ensure their job security throughout the pandemic.

The administration thinks that it isn’t “necessary” to give graduate workers a voice in their working conditions. We know differently. 

Impact Bargaining Sessions Update

We’ve returned to the bargaining table to protect the health, safety, and job security of graduate workers during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to my duties as vice president of our union, I am serving alongside Jewel Tomasula, Brent McDonnell, Ari Janoff, and Jeffrey Tsoi on the team that the Executive Council has organized to bargain with the administration over its fall reopening plans. I’m writing to share updates from the two bargaining sessions that graduate workers have used to share our concerns about the administration’s plans and present proposals to protect our community at Georgetown this fall.

During our bargaining sessions, we presented proposals that address a range of concerns you’ve shared with us. These include proposals to guarantee:

• Pay and health insurance for graduate workers whose concerns about on-campus work the administration is unable to accommodate;

• Public health protections for workers teaching or conducting research on campus;

• Remote teaching and research work for international student workers;

• Emergency medical leave for student workers who test positive for COVID-19; and

• The availability of hourly positions.

We’ve crafted our proposals to ensure protections under any context of our work during the COVID-19 pandemic. This week confirmed the need to be prepared for an array of different scenarios, as the Georgetown administration suddenly changed their reopening plans to hold classes virtually for the first month of the semester. However, the administration has indicated that it intends to organize hybrid classes as soon as possible, possibly even mid-semester.

To hold the administration to these proposals, we need to show them the same collective power that got us to the table this week. That’s why we will be organizing a series of actions over the coming weeks that demonstrate to the administration why these protections are essential to our work as teachers and researchers at Georgetown.

Our strength as a union comes from our membership. Organizing got us to this stage, and organizing will ensure that we win. Organizing works.

In solidarity,

Daniel Solomon, on behalf of the GAGE Bargaining Committee

Georgetown Agrees to Bargain over Fall Reopening Policies

Over the past week, we have spoken out in calls to the Georgetown administration and via social media with a simple message: Georgetown’s plans to re-open during the COVID-19 pandemic must protect the health, safety, and job security of graduate workers. Today, we learned that the administration heard our calls loud and clear. We will return to the bargaining table on Wednesday, July 29th, to negotiate an agreement that protects graduate workers and ensures that they are not compelled to teach or conduct research against their will or under conditions adverse to their health and safety.

These developments have confirmed for me what we’ve known all along: when we organize, we win.

Impact bargaining with the university will allow us to hold the administration to its promises of protecting graduate workers from increased COVID-19 risk. We have asked the administration to remove its drafted policy that would force some graduate workers to take an unpaid, uninsured leave of absence if the university is unable to accommodate their health and safety concerns. We’ve also asked the university to clarify its restrictions on teleworking for workers currently living abroad.

But we know that bargaining is only half the equation. Organizing got us to the table, and organizing will allow us to reach an agreement that protects all graduate workers at Georgetown.

In conclusion, I want to extend my sincerest appreciation to every one of you who answers our survey, signs our petition to President DeGioia, calls into the President’s Office, or shows up to our bargaining session. This is collective power! You all inspire me and I know that together we can achieve a strong agreement.

In solidarity,

Jewel Tomasula, on behalf of the GAGE Executive Council

GAGE-AFT Election and Nomination Notice June 24th, 2020

The Georgetown Alliance of Graduate Employees, GAGE-AFT, will be holding an mail in election for the following Union offices:

• President.

• Vice President.

• Treasurer.

• Secretary.

• Grievance Officer.

• Lead Organizer for Natural and Biomedical Sciences Degree Programs.

• Lead Organizer for Humanities and Languages Degree Programs.

• Lead Organizer for Social Sciences Degree Programs.

• Lead Organizer for Graduate Student Assistants Serving in Hourly Positions.

Information on the duties of these positions can be found in the Constitution and Bylaws ratified on June 20, 2020.

Running for Office

If you’re interested in running for office or nominating someone else, you will need to email the GAGE Elections Committee at elections@wearegage.org by 5 PM on July 1, 2020 with your nomination.

As a new local, GAGE has a structure that emphasizes the core role of organizing as a union function and attempts to incorporate students from every part of the unit into leadership positions. Our goal is to have a diverse Executive Council that reflects a wide range of disciplines, demographic groups, and experiences as graduate workers at Georgetown.

If you do not anticipate being a full member next year (i.e., receiving a biweekly paycheck from Georgetown from which Union dues are deducted) you may still run for office. Please be advised that by doing so, you are committing to being an associate member in good standing as defined in the Constitution and Bylaws, and must pay associate dues to GAGE-AFT by August 1st, 2020. Please email us with any questions you have about full and associate membership.

July 2 Candidate Office Hours and July 15 Candidate Town Hall

On July 2, from 12 to 2 PM, we’ll be holding elections committee office hours for prospective candidates and nominees interested in hearing more about the election process or the role of Executive Council positions. The zoom link for office hours will be sent to everyone who is nominated or self nominated. Candidates have until July 3rd, 2020 to accept their nomination by filling out a survey we will send to them and submitting a photo and candidate bio. Note that the elections committee will be checking whether nominees are eligible to run for office and that ineligible candidates will receive a separate email explaining their situation.

On July 15, from 3 to 5 PM, we’ll be holding a candidate town hall. GAGE members will have the opportunity to submit questions to candidates who agree to attend, and candidates will be given an opportunity to introduce themselves to the membership. An RSVP form for the town hall will be sent to all GAGE members in an upcoming email.

We hope that both of these functions serve as opportunities for people who are interested in getting involved with GAGE to learn more about how our union is growing and evolving and the vision that their fellow members have for the next year.

In Solidarity,

Theo Landsman (PhD in Government)

Ellen Jacobs (PhD in Biology)

Maggie Weng (PhD in Biology)

Rahel Fainchtein (PhD in Computer Science)

Andy Marshall (PhD in Government)

GAGE Elections Committee

Constitution Ratification Announcement

GIF: Our Constitution and Bylaws are ratified!

Congratulations on the successful ratification of our Constitution and Bylaws! 95.3% of participating members voted YES to ratify. These documents will set the foundation to help our Union become the Union we want it to be--a Union that not only stands up for graduate workers at Georgetown, but also works toward the common good at Georgetown and across Washington, DC.

Now that we have ratified our Constitution and Bylaws ratified, the Elections Committee is a standing committee of our Union charged with strictly ensuring democratic processes for the benefit of all members. Our functioning is vital to the running of GAGE. We will be responsible for facilitating free and fair elections by the membership for positions on the Executive Council, amendments to the Constitution, and any other elections which may be necessary in the process of growing our Union.

Specifically, we’re planning on holding a mail-in election at the end of July to elect our first Executive Council, which will consist of five officers elected at-large and four lead organizers elected by different groups or categories of graduate workers. The regulations of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) prohibit us from electing our Executive Council via an online election, as we were able to with both our contract with Georgetown and now our Constitution and Bylaws. The process for electing the members of the Executive Council will begin on Wednesday, June 24th, when the floor will officially be opened to nominations (including self-nominations) from members.

As the Elections Committee, it will be our responsibility to plan and facilitate the election, from designing the ballots to counting them once returned. But, we will need your help. Because an in-person election is not possible during the current global pandemic, we will instead mail everyone a ballot to their summer address. You can update or confirm your summer address information here.

Any member who wants to join the Elections Committee is valued and encouraged to do so. It’s not necessary that you’ve been previously involved in organizing for GAGE. If you are interested in joining the Elections Committee, please email us at elections@wearegage.org no later than 5 PM (EDT) on Tuesday, June 23rd.

In Solidarity,

GAGE Elections Committee

Constitution and Bylaws Highlights

We had such great engagement on our Constitution and Bylaws last week during our all-membership meetings. GAGE members'hip input was invaluable to our Constitution and Bylaws Committee as it worked to develop our Union's structure.

Highlights of Our Constitution and Bylaws

In the Constitution:

• Objectives of the Union: Organize graduate employees, collective bargaining, improve the standard of education, and cooperate with other segments of our society/other labor unions toward the achievement of the common good.

• Structure of the Executive Council: 5 Officers (President, Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary, Grievance Officer) elected by the entire membership and 4 Lead Organizers elected by constituency groups.

• Standing Committees: Bargaining/Research, Finance, Communications, Structural Equity, Elections, Grievance.

• Decision Making: General Membership Meetings and Referenda.

In the Bylaws:

• Dues for Full Members (members who hold appointments as Graduate Student Assistants): 1.75% of gross salary.

• Dues for Associate Members (members who do not hold appointments as Graduate Student Assistants): $12 per month.

• Structure of the Organizers’ Council: Department Organizers are members who undergo training and sign a commitment card. The intent is to have at least one Department Organizer from each department/program. Our target ratio is one Department Organizer for every ten GAGE members in the department.

GAGE membership will ratify the Constitution and Bylaws that will govern your Union for years to come. Polls will be open from 9 AM (EDT) on Wednesday, June 17, to 9 PM (EDT) on Friday, June 19. Similar to the vote to ratify our contract with Georgetown in May, the Election Committee will be sending your ballot to your non-GU email address. If you haven't been receiving GAGE emails at your non-GU email address, you should contact the Elections Committee at elections [at] wearegage.org. We will also be holding office hours at 12 noon (EDT) on Tuesday June 16 and Thursday June 18 to answer any questions you have about Constitution and Bylaws or other topics related to the Union. RSVP here!

We remind you that in order to be eligible to vote you must 1) Be a member of GAGE-AFT, 2) Currently be enrolled at Georgetown, and 3) Have worked as or will work as a Graduate Student Assistant. Constitution and Bylaws are important bases of a union - join us in voting yes!

Steps to Ratify Our First Union Contract

We’re so excited we have reached a tentative agreement! See the highlights here.

Once it’s been ratified, this contract will help govern the lives and livelihoods of graduate workers at Georgetown. We are hosting Member Meetings on Tuesday, May 5, at 10 AM and 3 PM and Wednesday, May 6, at 12 PM and 5.30 PM.

After nearly five years of 1-on-1 conversations, of flyering, of pledges and petitions, of emails to alumni and donors, of digital and physical protests, we can’t conceal our pride and delight at having arrived at this moment. It’s been a long time in coming. However, this moment represents the beginning of the next chapter in our story as a union and a community. We’ve won our contract. Now we have to prepare to enforce it.

That’s why it is so important for members to show up to Member Meetings and to vote to ratify our tentative agreement. Just like our union election in November 2018 where 83.7 percent of graduate workers voted #UnionYes and #GAGEYes, this week is an opportunity for us to show our unity and strength.          

Polling in the ratification election will be open from 9 AM on Wednesday, May 6, to 9 pm on Thursday, May 7. To vote in the ratification election, you need to be (1) a member of GAGE (2) who is currently enrolled at Georgetown and (3) who either has worked or will work as a teaching assistant, a research assistant, or an instructor of record.

Links to voting will be sent to your non-GU email. Update your email with GAGE here.

This is an exciting moment for all graduate workers at Georgetown. See you at the ballot box!

Tentative Agreement Reached!

We’ve reached a tentative agreement!

We won’t bury the lede on May Day: We are incredibly happy to announce that we have reached a tentative agreement on our first contract with the University! 

The past three years have been a fight, but we have persevered. We organized, we sent petitions, and we stood firm in fighting for a Contract for the Whole Person for all GU grad workers. This contract couldn’t happen without hundreds of us coming together and making our power felt, over and over again! The bargaining committee, the organizing committee, and every member have shown up, time and time again because we know the value of our work. Today we have taken a huge step in making sure the University recognizes that value as well.

This is an auspicious moment - at a time when many of our workers are dealing with unprecedented unknowns, a strong, collectively bargained contract can help provide stability and security.

Read highlights of our tentative agreement.

Join us at the table #ReadytoTHRIVE

We have bargaining tomorrow at 12.30 PM in ICC 651, and we need to see you there!

Last Wednesday at our Member Meeting, Jewel Tomasula (Biology) and Gerald Taylor (Philosophy) from our Bargaining Committee underscored how important it is for us and hundreds of graduate workers at Georgetown like us to show up to bargaining sessions with the administration. They announced that, in the coming weeks, we will start bargaining over “bottom-line issues” that we prioritized in our Bargaining Survey--stipends and hourly wages, dental and vision coverage, health insurance, childcare, transportation, and paid family and medical leave.  

Jewel and Gerald reported that, since contract negotiations started on March 8, 2019 (that’s almost one year ago!), we have reached tentative agreements with administration on fourteen proposals, including protections for international students, compensation for graduate workers when paid positions are canceled, and workplace grievances and arbitration procedures. Jewel and Gerald emphasized that we had arrived at this point in large part because graduate workers have shown up to bargaining and shared their stories with the administration.

That’s why we need you to show up tomorrow at bargaining: to show the administration that we’re #ReadyToTHRIVE and we want the dignified wages and benefits we have earned through our labor as teachers and researchers.

Bargaining can be an eye-opening and empowering experience, as Jeremy Canfield from our Organizing Committee (OC) observed before the winter break. By attending a bargaining session, you can learn more about the graduate experience at Georgetown and show your support for your friends and colleagues at the table. More importantly, you can remind the administration that you and hundreds of graduate employees like you will do what it takes to win a contract.

In the coming weeks, we’ll be contacting you about different ways that you can help win a contract that reflects our interests and values our contributions as graduate workers. But, for the moment, you should plan to show up to bargaining (if not this week, then next week!) and remind the administration that we’re watching.

In solidarity,

GAGE Organizing Committee