Dear GEO Members,
GEO fiercely condemns the Trump Administration’s assassination of Major General Qasem Soleimani and this declaration of war on Iran, as it harms millions of innocent civilians abroad and here in the U.S., including our members. We are collectively horrified by the news we know, and all of which we don’t know in terms of what is to come. Regardless of Trump’s political agenda, this aggression is part of the ongoing war machine that is the engine of U.S. imperialism. We denounce war and we denounce the detainment and harassment of Iranians and Iranian-Americans at our borders. As the people continue to suffer for the actions and “leadership” of the 1%, we must renew our commitment to each other and the real leadership of a movement of and by the people.
In the coming weeks, GEO leadership will be working on ways to continue to support graduate student workers impacted by what is happening. We encourage you to reach out to us if you or someone you know is prevented from returning to the U.S. to continue graduate studies at UMass, if you or someone you know is encountering hurdles to being able to work related to this situation, or if you or someone you know is experiencing workplace discrimination related to this situation. GEO has already reached out to UMass Labor Relations to reactivate our Non-Discrimination Committee (which has focused mostly on immigration legal support). We will share resources as we know of them, and actions we can take together to resist the war and in the meantime, here are a few actions you can take today:
- We urge you to cosign this U.S. Labor Against the War petition.
- We urge you to visit the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) website for more information about their efforts/support and to know your rights as a student and as a worker.
- We urge all stewards to reach out to their coworkers to offer support and to help the Union understand who is impacted by this and how.
In Solidarity,
GEO Leadership
