Fellow workers,

See below for candidate statements for the upcoming GEO elections. All of these candidate statements are also attached to this email, and they are being cross-posted on the GEO website.

As a reminder, the election will run from April 27-April 29, with electronic voting and an in-person component. The election will conclude at the 4/29 membership meeting, which runs from 5:30-7:30pm. Please let us know if you have any questions by reaching out to elections.

in solidarity,
The GEO Elections Committee

_____

Candidates for Co-Chair

Phoebe Glick (Co-Chair)

My name is Phoebe Glick, and I am running for GEO Co-Chair alongside Isaac Pliskin, with Luz Rapoport and Ian Kaplan for Membership Organizer, and Rina Matayoshi for Mobilization Coordinator. I am a third year PhD student in English, and have served my department as steward for three years. I see this role as an opportunity to get to know GEO members as full human beings, in moments of both crisis and solidarity. If elected, I will prioritize listening, proactive communication, transparency in union procedures, and safety in union spaces.

Grad workers must feel welcome and empowered in GEO. Looking ahead, the challenges we face will only intensify. We are already seeing cuts that threaten entire departments, alongside broader right-wing attacks on higher education and on the entire working-class. Admin will use this political context as an excuse to erode our bargaining unit and impose austerity measures. We must strengthen our relationships with each other in order to defend ourselves, confront retaliation, and assert our collective power.

My experiences over the past three years have given me a deep understanding of the struggles grad workers face at UMass. During my first year, I organized with the Palestine Solidarity Caucus in support of student-led opposition to the escalation of violence in Gaza. Through that work, I witnessed firsthand the extent of administrative repression directed at students and faculty. It reinforced for me that we cannot rely on the university to protect us. Prior to UMass, I was a committed worker-organizer in CUNY’s Professional Staff Congress, holding the position of Officer at Large of the Baruch College Chapter. I co-organized a Political Education Committee for theorizing labor in the context of imperialism, believing group study and community to be critical for effective labor power.

If elected, I will provide a clear vision for how the union can support grad students against ongoing widespread attacks such as the targeting of international students, people of color, and trans people; threats to free speech, restriction on research, and the disabling of the structures that we rely on for our livelihood. In this dangerous and unpredictable political moment, we must unite for each other and for graduate study. We need a GEO relentlessly devoted to transparency and democracy, for the sake of our livelihood, our dignity, and our futures.

My goals include:

• Increase accessibility for members to participate in their union, especially first-years. Move forward from past conflicts and honor members’ energy and time.

• Build our cross-union organizing, strengthen our work with other campus unions including MSP, PSU, USA, and AFSCME.

• Address systemic issues related to food and housing insecurity, demand a livable wage.

• Address ongoing concerns of marginalized student workers, including international students, students of color, queer and trans students, students with disabilities, and students with families.

I am excited for the opportunity to address these goals, and am running as part of this slate because of our shared commitment to safeguarding GEO as a radical, member-led union.

Aidan Khelil (Co-Chair)

I’m Aidan Khelil, a PhD candidate in the Physics Department. I’m a current member of the GEO Steering Committee, a Steward in Physics, and a former Co-Chair of the GEO Stewards Assembly and member of the GEO Grievance Committee. I’m running for GEO Co-Chair for the 2026-27 academic year.

The University currently owes our union about $1,000,000 in the form of a housing fund that we won in our last contract. This money was meant to be distributed to the graduate student body to help alleviate the extreme rent burden that students have been facing for several years. Securing and distributing this money will be my top priority if I am elected GEO Co-Chair.

Beyond withholding our housing fund, UMass administration is attempting to price-gouge our workers by hiring private developers to build additional $2,000/month apartment complexes. They’re trying to cut hundreds of grad positions, including entire departments. They are refusing to fix the failing infrastructure, endangering students’ health and work, all despite posting hundreds of millions in pure profit each year.

We are going into bargaining for our new contract next year. If elected, I’ll organize workers into direct action to force UMass to give us the housing fund we won and make sure it is duly distributed to the workers who need it. Further, we will work to expand this fund to meet the ever-growing living expenses of our workers. We will demand that UMass not bankrupt our students with new $2,000/month apartments but instead offer low-cost housing on monthly leases. We will pressure UMass into re-hiring the maintenance and custodial staff that keep our buildings from crumbling beneath our feet and above our heads. Finally, we will force UMass to pay us the living wage they’ve been depriving us of for years.

As Co-Chair, I will continue standing up for what is right, as I have done in the past. In October of 2023, I was arrested by UMPD alongside 56 others for protesting the partnership between UMass and weapons manufacturers like Raytheon. I have a track record of standing up to bullies, and I will continue to fight for students who are being targeted for their political expression.

If you want union leadership with a track record of organizing and fighting against an abusive administration, vote Aidan Khelil for GEO Co-Chair.

Isaac Pliskin (Co-Chair)

My name is Isaac Pliskin (he/him). I am a 5th year PhD candidate in physics, and I am running for GEO Co-Chair along with Phoebe Glick for GEO Co-Chair, Ian Kaplan and Luz Rapoport for GEO Membership Organizers, and Rina Matayoshi for GEO Mobilization Coordinator. The four members I am running alongside all represent what has made being the Co-Chair of GEO over the past year such a great experience.

Since becoming involved in GEO as a rank-and-file member, I have served on the GEO Bylaws Committee, GEO Bargaining Committee, Local Joint Council as a GEO representative, the Local’s Bylaws Committee, and for the past year as one of the Co-Chairs of GEO.

As your Co-Chair I have prioritized the interests of graduate student workers. My work has focused on improving member participation in GEO. This involves making sure that meetings are more efficient and better run, as well as expanding accessibility by creating a system for better hybrid meetings. Communication has been more consistent within GEO, helping members stay informed about union events and other important information.

I have also devoted a significant amount of time to reviving the Family Matters Committee. It has often been the case in GEO that members with families struggle to participate in the union. This year, events such as the Back to School picnic were designed to be family friendly from the start, something that recently has not happened much in GEO. I organized dedicated family events, such as the GEO and PRO Family Portrait Day, which allowed over 25 families to have fun together and get free family portraits. It was amazing getting to connect with members and their families, especially as many of them are often unable to make it to GEO events. Currently, I am finishing up work on the new Family Friendly Workspace, which gives members a space to do work on campus with their children. I am very excited for you all to see the space once it is finally ready!

There is a lot more that I have worked on over the past year, such as winning a major arbitration case that led to many workers getting paid out thousands of dollars, increasing collaboration with other unions on campus, co-sponsoring various events, and more. And yet there is still work to be done! A year is shorter than expected, and I am hoping for the opportunity to finish everything that I have started. I intend what would be my second, and final, year as Co-Chair count.

I am proud to be running alongside a slate full of dedicated GEO members who believe so deeply in building up GEO’s community. The past year has seen much improvement within GEO, but the work is never finished. We are all focused on continuing the work of improving GEO and to continue to build the collective strength we need to face mounting challenges to not just graduate students at UMass Amherst, but higher education as a whole.

Candidates for Membership Organizer

Antonis Gounalakis (Membership Organizer)

Hi all,

Congratulations for reading this far; you are among the few who actually open and skim GEO emails.

My name is Antonis Gounalakis, and I am a Ph.D. student in Economics. I currently serve as Mobilization Coordinator, but I am running for Membership Organizer. I have been involved with GEO since my first year (steward, Steering Committee). As an international student, I am aware of the complexities surrounding immigration status that affect us as both students and workers, especially under the Trump regime.

As Mobilization Coordinator, I have helped grow our membership by more than 8% since 2022. I have led many departmental orientations, signing up more members than in any year since the Supreme Court’s anti-union Janus decision (2018). I ensured that every membership form was processed correctly, including over 100 from 2020 and 2021 that the University had “forgotten”. I transitioned GEO’s membership data to "Broadstripes", creating a more transparent and efficient system for organizers, and maintained accurate membership lists that have been essential for stewards. Unfortunately, since Summer 2025, I have been undemocratically and unconstitutionally blocked by UAW and GEO leadership from accessing the tools needed to perform these tasks, in direct violation of a steward assembly decision, and much of this progress has been reversed.

I believe leadership must align with the needs of its members, not fear them. GEO is a democratically run, member-driven union, and transparency and accountability are non-negotiable in everything we do.

Currently, international students and pro-Palestine activists have been abducted, arrested, and deported for speaking their minds. The attacks on free speech, academic research, and funding are relentless. Yet GEO leadership’s response has been near silence. I believe GEO must take a strong stand opposing the U.S./Israel war on Iran, the genocide in Gaza, and the ethnic cleansing in the West Bank and Lebanon. Similarly in the domestic front against the murders perpetrated by ICE agents in Minnesota, along with defunding ICE as a whole. The only political statement GEO issued this year, which I pushed for and helped draft, concerned the illegal and discriminatory firing of Mel Curth, a trans graduate Teaching Assistant at the University of Oklahoma. We can and must do more.

We cannot weather the storm by pretending it is not happening. Silence from union leaders increases the risk for all of us. Meanwhile, the University implements austerity by cutting graduate admissions, threatening the viability of whole departments, squeezing upper-year cohorts, while expecting the rest of us to pick up the slack. Moreover, the University hasn’t implemented the Housing Fund agreement we won in October 2024, and current GEO leadership has failed to raise the issue. I vow to help organize our members against these cuts and push for a stronger contract next year.

The fight against war, fascism, and financial precarity requires the broadest possible solidarity among graduate student-workers. Together, we can build a more equitable work, academic, and living environment.

Choose your fighter,

Antonis Gounalakis

+1 413 210 9307 (call/text/Signal)

+30 69 49626816 (Whatsapp)

Ian Kaplan (Membership Organizer)

My name is Ian Kaplan (he/they), and I am a Master’s student in Social Justice Education. I am running for Membership Organizer alongside Luz Rapoport. As a slate, we are running in solidarity with Rina Matayoshi for Mobilization Coordinator and with Isaac Pliskin and Phoebe Glick for Co-Chairs. Historically, I’ve worked as a union representative for a division of the National Educators Association, where I organized membership, increased union participation, and built member confidence to actively organize efforts which improved materials conditions for educators. In this work, I was part of a team that secured guaranteed lunches and planning periods for teachers. I am excited to bring this tenacity and experience to GEO at UMass Amherst next.

I am running for Membership Organizer because I believe our collective power depends on our ability to invest in one another. At UMass Amherst, graduate workers navigate complex academic, financial, and social realities, and our union must be equipped to meet those challenges with care, intention, and equity. Building equity-centered systems and structures within GEO is central to my platform. This means developing systems that uplift all voices, reduce barriers to participation, and ensure resources and opportunities are distributed fairly. Equity cannot be an afterthought—it must be embedded in how we organize, communicate, and make decisions.

A key part of my vision is to co-create spaces where members can connect, learn, and mobilize together. As Membership Organizer, I’ll focus on building relationships within and between graduate communities. Organizing work cannot be done in silos—we must connect to organize across colleges and departments in order to build toward union retention, trust, and active participation. I will prioritize outreach strategies that are relational, consistent, and rooted in listening to members’ needs. Through workshops, information sessions, and informal community gatherings, I want GEO to be a place where members feel empowered to participate fully, helping to shape the directions and aims of our organization.

By fostering a culture of collaboration and accountability, we can build a GEO that is both inclusive and effective. To support these goals, I propose the following strategic action plan for organizing membership:

• Conduct one-on-one outreach and department-based mapping to understand member needs and identify patterns for cross-campus organizing opportunities

• Organize regular workshops, trainings, and events that center relationship-building, political education, and structures for strategic mobilization

• Maintain and improve accessible communication systems (e.g. GEO digest, Instagram presence) to keep members informed, engaged, and connected across departments

• Build momentum for issue-based organizing focused on funding, assistantships, and workplace conditions

• Collaborate with graduate organizations, groups, and communities to strengthen solidarity and expand GEO organizing capacity

• Address ongoing concerns of marginalized student workers, including international students, students of color, queer and trans students, students with disabilities, and students with families

Together, we can build a union that is grounded in equity, driven by active membership, and capable of winning real change. I am excited about the possibility of contributing to this work and would be honored to serve as your Membership Organizer.

Will Moriarty (Membership Organizer)

Hi y’all, my name is Will Moriarty (he/him/his), and I am a second-year Labor Studies student who has been working in the Anthropology department for the past year. I’m running for Membership Organizer because I want to support stewards and rank-and-file members in exercising collective power where it matters most: in your own labs, departments, and buildings.

The issue most pressing to you and your closest colleagues might be that your employer is overworking you by making you teach three courses a year, that your college is cutting TA lines as a preemptive austerity measure, or that you are experiencing harassment or discrimination from a supervisor. Issues like these aren’t just personal frustrations. They’re points where you and your coworkers, acting together, can actually make your employer feel the cost of ignoring you.

Only you know your specific workplace well enough to determine what will move your supervisor, department head, or dean. Some departments are currently campaigning for democratic decision-making over assistantship allocations; others are organizing around neglected facilities in buildings like Machmer or LGRT. Each of these efforts gives workers elsewhere the confidence to act on their own terms, and as more of us do, we build our capacity for bigger, university-wide fights.

My priorities as Membership Organizer:

1. Facilitate action-oriented conversations: I will work with departments to facilitate group conversations where members identify problems in their workplace and think through how to address them together. These conversations are not just about listing issues, but about building shared understanding through people’s own experience, learning from each other, and figuring out what actions make sense in their context. In departments that already have stewards, these conversations can help develop new leaders and deepen participation. In departments that do not yet have a steward, they can help identify people who want to take on that role.

2. Expand our reach beyond the stewards network: I will extend our organizing efforts into labs and other workplaces where workers’ issues aren’t directly related to the department they are in, so that more members have a clear path to acting collectively with their coworkers.

3. Help stewards and rank-and-file members start preparing for bargaining now: With contract negotiations returning next academic year, we can’t wait until the table is set to figure out what we want and who’s fighting for it. I want to help stewards and rank-and-file members begin that work now through a voluntary summer reading group of Rules to Win By by Jane McAlevey and Abby Lawlor, which offers concrete tools for building a high-participation bargaining campaign.

I’m asking for your vote not because I have all the answers, but because I’m committed to doing the slower, less visible work of helping workers across this campus figure out their own.

Luz Rapoport (Membership Organizer)

My name is Luz Rapoport (they/them), a first-year Master’s student in Higher Education. I’m running for Membership Organizer in solidarity with Isaac Pliskin and Phoebe Glick for Co-Chairs, Ian Kaplan for Membership Organizer, and Rina Matayoshi for Mobilization Coordinator. I’m excited to run as part of a slate of community leaders, and I know that given the chance, our team will run an efficient, productive, and proactive GEO.

Within my first year at the university, I have witnessed massive funding cuts, attacks on knowledge creation, and a failure of the institution to support its graduate students through these critical moments. This reflects a broader political climate that is reshaping higher education and the conditions under which we work and study.

At the same time, communication between the union and its membership has broken down. If we do not know what we are facing, we cannot respond to it. The union must be more proactive. We have been kept on our back foot, constantly reacting instead of preparing, because the institution does not communicate. As Membership Organizer, I will focus on building community and infrastructure for collective action.

To do this, I will prioritize:

• Stronger communication across GEO, including updates on funding changes, assistantship opportunities, and union efforts

• Cross-campus solidarity, by creating spaces for members to share issues across programs, departments, and colleges

• Accessible and inclusive outreach, including multilingual sessions and direct, proactive outreach to members

• A digital community bulletin board for members to share events, organizing efforts, and opportunities to connect

• Pressuring the university to reverse or remediate assistantship cuts

• Creating clear entry points for members to organize, including trainings that equip members to take action and engage in union advocacy

As a Higher Education Master’s student, I bring a perspective grounded in student support, accessibility, and organizing across institutional spaces. Through my work as a Project Assistant with the Intergroup Dialogue Initiative, I have gained experience coordinating campus-wide programming, managing communication across departments, and organizing large-scale events, bringing together students, faculty, and staff.

In multiple roles at Mount Holyoke College (my undergraduate institution), I worked closely with minoritized students, including first-generation, low-income, and disabled students. Through my accessibility and disability justice work, I have focused on creating equity-driven spaces. I co-founded Accessibility Justice Club, an organization that focused on student activism, and worked with the institution to improve conditions and develop new opportunities for disabled students.

Beyond higher education, my experience in political campaigns and community organizing has shaped how I approach mobilization. I have led voter outreach, coordinated organizing efforts, and supported communication for three independent campaigns in Florida. I have also led bilingual outreach through TRIO Upward Bound, where I supported students in accessing resources and advocating for themselves.

If we want to move from reacting to preparing, we need a membership that is informed, connected, and ready to act. That work starts now. I am committed to helping build a union where graduate student voices are heard and organized into collective power.

Candidates for Mobilization Coordinator

Violet Lundstedt (Mobilization Coordinator)

My name is Violet, I am a Labor and Feminist Studies graduate student running to be the new GEO Membership Mobilization Coordinator of our union. Currently, I organize with the Western Massachusetts Area Labor Federation (ALF) as an intermediary between ALF affiliates and undergraduate students as TA for the Labor Center’s Service Learning course. In this role, I have helped increase ALF engagement through facilitating student led surveys and interviews with affiliate union leaders. I am also the student representative to the faculty for the Labor Studies residential cohort of 2025. In this role, I serve as an advocate for cohort needs and concerns directly to the Labor Center faculty. Prior to my time at the Labor Center, I was involved in various workplace and community organizing efforts. I have worked alongside my coworkers in the construction industry, where we fought for higher wages and better working conditions. Through separate mutual aid networks across the northeast, I have worked to supply people with food, medical supplies, and other necessities of life. I have helped organize spaces that center peer support advocacy, disability justice, anti-racism, and abolition. With years of experience in organizational administration and implementation, I intend to effectively fulfill the role of GEO Membership Mobilization Coordinator.

My experience as a labor scholar and grassroots organizer will benefit GEO in building worker power together. Current austerity policies being implemented by UMass are clearly having drastic consequences on our ability to materially and financially sustain ourselves as graduate students. Across the board, this administration has been unilaterally gutting assistantships and leading with intimidation and force. All while the federal government is kidnapping people off of the streets, funding genocide, silencing dissent, and defunding higher education and social programs. As a trans woman, the increasingly hostile political rhetoric and state laws directed at the autonomy of my community and other oppressed communities are violent and wrong. The systematic effort to erase trans people is a branch of the same tree that, at its root, sustains violence against all marginalized groups. Our greatest strength is and always will be solidarity. Showing up for each other as colleagues, coworkers, and human beings is the only way we can thrive. As Membership Mobilization Coordinator I will utilize my experience as an intersectional organizer to build solidarity in GEO together.

Rina Matayoshi (Mobilization Coordinator)

My name is Rina Matayoshi (she/her), and I am an International Master’s student in Social Justice Education. I am running for Mobilization Coordinator, alongside Isaac Pliskin and Phoebe Glick for GEO Co-Chair, and Luz Rapoport and Ian Kaplan for Membership Organizer.

Since arriving at UMass as an international student, I have come to realise that labor unions are understood differently across national and cultural contexts. These differences often create structural barriers to union participation for many international students. We should not assume that everyone already understands the system of American labor unions. When this assumption goes unexamined and outreach is not prioritized, union participation can feel difficult. As a result, those who most need the union’s support may become isolated, and those who should be protected by it may end up further removed from that protection.

Before coming to UMass, I worked on my island as a program officer for a community foundation food aid program. As an Indigenous person from the Ryukyu Islands, I have been involved in organizing around Indigenous rights and anti-military base movements. I continue this work through advocacy efforts at the United Nations, where I work to bring the voices of my island into international spaces.These experiences have built my skills and shaped my understanding of organizing as something rooted in a relational and interdependent ecosystem. I believe that this interdependence and relationality are what strengthen collective power.

University funding cuts and broader political developments in the U.S have greatly affected international students and created significant challenges for me in continuing my graduate studies. This is a reality I share with many international students, students of color, queer and trans students, students with disabilities, and students with families. However, through these experiences, I have come to deeply feel the power of a community of people who come together to think through challenges and offer direct support in difficult moments. That experience has given me the strength and conviction to run for Mobilization Coordinator in a union grounded in mutual aid and solidarity.

I believe it is critical to remove the factors that further marginalize already excluded communities, especially those who may be less familiar with the U.S. labor unions. I am running to help build systems that ensure all graduate student voices are reflected in the union, and meaningfully included in our collective organizing.

As Mobilisation Coordinator I will prioritize the following actions to achieve these goals:

• Strengthen outreach to international students about the structure and role of the union, and develop multilingual communication alongside culturally responsive community-building.

• Maintain and improve accessible communication channels so that all members can access information, stay connected, and meaningfully engage across departments.

• Create opportunities for one-on-one outreach and dialogue to better understand member needs and identify opportunities for cross-campus organizing.

Together, let’s build a union grounded in equity and mutual aid, capable of creating meaningful change. I am excited to contribute to this important work, and would be honored to serve as your Mobilization Coordinator.

Michelle Rundquist (Mobilization Coordinator)

My name is Michelle Rundquist, I was born and raised in central Indiana, I am a master’s student of the UMass Labor Center, Im running to be your mobilization coordinator, and I’m mad at GEO. And I’m not alone. Because why wouldn’t you be mad at GEO? As members, we have spent the past 2 years watching our union’s leadership prioritize infighting and interpersonal drama above all else, reach for the lowest hanging fruit when it came to getting our contract, and battle endless charges of lying, corruption, and just plain incompetence to no end and no resolution. Cause lets face it the last contract wasn’t enough. And none of us though it was. It passed because no one thought GEO’s leadership could do any better and honestly? They couldn’t. Our union was honest when they told us they got us the best contract that they could, but their best just isn’t enough. Because at the end of the day our members are not making enough to keep up with the cost of living in Amherst, are increasingly asking themselves if paying their dues is even worth it, and have little to no faith left in our union at all.

This is the present reality of GEO. But it doesn’t have to be the future. If you feel that GEO as it stands today has failed you, know that you are not alone, and that you do not have to continue to be failed by your union. This election is our chance to make a change in our union. But why should you vote for me to be that change? I’ve dedicated my whole life to the labor movement and the advancement of the workers’ cause in America abandoning previous held dreams to pursue a degree in labor with the goal of going on one day to work professionally in the Labor Movement in any role that puts me side by side with the workers. Throughout my education, as well as throughout my candidacy if I am elected, I stress the importance of closeness to the workers, organizing with those I do not share the same opinion with, and putting what the workers want and feel is best for them above all else. I will not make any election promises I can’t keep, and I can’t promise you that I’ll be able to fix what’s wrong with GEO. But what I can promise you is that a vote for me, is a vote for someone completely dedicated to the advancement of GEO’s workers, who is for the workers and not for themselves, and who will be an exemplification of the union GEO is meant to be and that their members deserve.

Candidates for GEO Delegate to the UAW Constitutional Convention

Antonis Gounalakis (GEO Delegate to the UAW Constitutional Convention)

See above for candidate statement under Membership Organizer.

Isaac Pliskin (GEO Delegate to the UAW Constitutional Convention)

My name is Isaac Pliskin, and I am running for GEO Delegate to the UAW Constitutional Convention. I believe that my experience on the GEO Bylaws Committee, as a member of the GEO Bargaining Committee, as a GEO representative to the Local 2322 Joint Council, as a member of the Local 2322 Bylaws Committee, and as one of the GEO Co-Chairs makes me well qualified to represent GEO and its interests at the UAW Constitutional Convention this summer.

I am well-versed in not only the GEO Unit Bylaws, but also the Local 2322 Bylaws and the UAW Constitution. As a member of both the GEO and Local 2322 Bylaws Committees I have worked to improve both our Unit Bylaws, as well as our Local Bylaws. Being one of GEO’s Delegates to the Constitutional Convention would give me the opportunity to also help to improve the UAW Constitution. The UAW Constitution is a very old document, and much of the processes it enshrines do not perfectly match the higher education context that GEO lives in. This makes it harder for members in GEO to participate in the union since, in particular, the UAW Constitution does not take into account things such as how many graduate student workers move in and out of the bargaining unit (especially over the summer). Issues such as this are not only important to members, but also incredibly technical, and solving them will require a good working understanding of the GEO Bylaws, Local Bylaws, and UAW Constitution. It will also require the level of thoroughness and knowledge of both procedures and how to advance the aims of democracy that I possess.

There are various other reasons I believe I would be a good GEO Delegate, but in the end it all comes down to the most important thing: I am very passionate about not just GEO itself but also bylaws and other related documents. It takes a special kind of crazy to want to spend several days in Detroit debating tiny points of the UAW Constitution with other UAW members, but (unfortunately?) I am exactly that kind of crazy.

Luz Rapoport (GEO Delegate to the UAW Constitutional Convention)

My name is Luz Rapoport (they/them), and I am running for Delegate to the UAW Constitutional Convention. I bring experience working with organizational constitutions and governance from my undergraduate work, where I was involved in creating, amending, and implementing constitutions within student organizations.

As a Politics graduate, I also bring a strong foundation in understanding how governance structures, rules, and institutions shape participation and representation. This informs how I approach constitutional work, by acknowledging the direct impact it will have on who is able to engage and how power is distributed within an organization. Furthermore, I will prioritize a social equity lens, ensuring that our union’s diverse population is fairly represented and that leaders are held accountable when they fail to serve their membership.

I am committed to ensuring that our union’s structures reflect the realities of graduate student workers and that our governing processes are accessible, transparent, and responsive to members.

Marc Walter (GEO Delegate to the UAW Constitutional Convention)

Hi, my name is Marc, I’m a graduate student in the Labor Center running to be one of your delegates to the UAW’s 39th Constitutional Convention this summer. As a member of GEO I serve as the steward for my department, investigating grievances and working as a liaison between my cohort and union leadership, and as a member of GEO’s Communications and Joint Health and Safety Committees. Before coming to UMass, I worked as an organizer for the Campaign Workers Guild, an independent, worker-led union which organizes workers at political campaigns and non-profits. If elected, I will take that independent, worker-focused mindset when representing GEO members at the UAW convention. Currently, I work as an intern for the Massachusetts Nurses Association, supporting healthcare workers in the state as they fight for union representation and respect on the job.

If elected, I will ensure that the rights of GEO members and other graduate workers are well-represented at the convention. In a time where higher education is under attack, it is imperative that we have a strong union which supports us and our need for dignity and respect on the job, a living wage, protections for international student workers, and more. In my time at UMass, I have witnessed firsthand the importance of GEO in improving the lives of graduate workers and in empowering us to fight for what we deserve. I want all workers globally to have that same sense of empowerment. This starts with ensuring that we have Union leadership in the UAW who are willing to invest time and energy in organizing new workplaces across the country.