LEO Statement on UM Transparency and Workplace Democracy (Friday September 4)

SUMMARY: Continued administrative neglect of faculty, student, and staff demands – as well as a disturbing lack of transparency and workplace democracy – has brought frustrations to a boiling point. We at LEO stand with GEO and the tenure-track faculty who are organizing for change, and have outlined ways Lecturers can support these efforts below. [LEO’s Union Council made this statement on September 4, after GEO members had authorized a strike ballot but before the strike had been approved by a member vote.]

Dear Colleagues:

Our first week of classes is behind us.  We hope that your classes are off to a terrific start!  We’ve all been focused on teaching, as we must be, but meanwhile our world has not stood still. Last Friday, we learned that the Administration’s ethics advisory committee advised against the current plan to bring students back to campus, making alternative recommendations.  The Administration ignored this advice and suppressed its publication until it was leaked at the end of August. In so doing, it violated two vital principles: transparency and workplace democracy. 

Unfortunately, the Administration continues to engage in a top-down, intransigent approach to leadership. Our efforts to negotiate over Lecturers’ rights to choose how they would teach, participate in decisions on Fall implementation, and mitigate the impact of massive lay-offs in Flint and Dearborn all came to naught. GEO’s efforts over the last several weeks to negotiate a number of measures that would mitigate the negative impact of COVID-19 and the economic crisis have met a similar response.  Apparently, we should accept a certain number of cases and even deaths (not clear how many would be an acceptable number!) in order that the University’s mission can proceed unimpeded.  

Attempting to govern our university in this way -- in a moment of deep crisis, when we need to work together as never before -- is a recipe for bad decisions, distrust and conflict.  Over the last week, resistance to this authoritarian style of leadership has been crystallizing.  Multiple petitions in circulation are demanding (among other things) that the semester move fully online. Today, GEO’s General Membership Meeting (GMM) will vote whether or not to send a strike authorization ballot to the members. If that passes then their strike votes would be counted on Sunday. By Tuesday of next week, GEO could be on an indefinite strike, demanding a stronger commitment to worker safety, right to refuse in-person teaching, testing availability, and childcare support for COVID-related working conditions.

The tenure-track faculty have been mobilizing too. At the Faculty Senate meeting last Friday, attended by record numbers of faculty (including Lecturers), a vote of no confidence in President Schlissel’s leadership was proposed and passed. The motion will face a formal vote at the next Faculty Senate meeting, scheduled for September 16 at 3-4 p.m.  

What should Lecturers do in response to this pattern of top-down decision making and lack of transparency? As LEO’s Union Council, we recommend that you do one or more of three things next week: 

1. Support GEO (as they have supported us in the past) if they decide to strike.  You can do this in at least three ways:

   a. Commit to not retaliate against GSIs who go on strike. 

   b. Educate your students about why GEO is striking by sharing educational materials with them. You can receive them by signing GEO's Community Pledge.

   c. Sign GEO’s Community Pledge to join pickets.   There's a space for you to indicate whether you can join in-person pickets or prefer virtual actions. GEO will reach out to those who sign up with further information.

2. Support our Tenure-Track faculty colleagues by attending the September 16 (3-4pm) Faculty Senate meeting.  Under current UM rules, Lecturers do not have a vote in the Faculty Senate, but meeting leaders have assured us that we will have a voice.  We can also set up a parallel vote by LEO members. In addition to the non-confidence vote, one or more resolutions will be introduced demanding that faculty (explicitly including Lecturers), staff and students be included in planning and decision-making going forward. We believe all LEO members should back this resolution.  

3. Participate in the University-wide Speak Out on Friday, September 11th, noon-1:30pm. The speak out will give UM employees a space to share what it has been like to work at UM under COVID-19.  It is organized by the All-Campus Labor Council (ACLC), a council of unions representing employees that work for the University of Michigan, including LEO, GEO, the Nurses (UMPNC), the brand new union of Physicians’ Assistants (UPAMM), and the House Officers (representing interns). RSVP at bit.ly/ACLCSpeakOut.  

Finally, there is a national call -- under the banner #ScholarStrike -- for faculty to cancel their classes on Tuesday and Wednesday of next week to demonstrate their commitment to ending the status quo in which unarmed black and brown people are murdered with impunity by police.  It is unclear how many U-M faculty will participate in this effort, but if GEO strikes next week, the two job actions will likely coincide.  

We are now in a moment of extraordinary uncertainty. In such times, great changes can be made if people are willing to stand up for what is right.  As an organization that fights for justice, whose members are conscientious participants in our university community, the LEO leadership believes we ought to join with our fellow U-M employees to push for a more transparent and democratic approach to governing our university.  Together, we will find our way through this extraordinary Fall to a better place.  We make the road by walking. 

In solidarity,
LEO Union Council