A state administrative judge ruled on Monday that the Graduate Employees’ Organization at the University of Michigan has violated the no-strike clause in its existing contract.

Graduate student workers can continue to strike, a Washtenaw County judge ruled this week.

Eight members of Ann Arbor City Council penned a letter in support of striking graduate students at the University of Michigan.

Members of U-M's Graduate Employees Organization went on strike on Wednesday to demand better pay and healthcare.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Resident advisors at the University of Michigan have ended their nearly two-week strike after reaching a deal with the university. Residential Staff members demanded more protections including regular access to testing for all residence staff, and enforcement of the university mask and social distancing mandates in dining and residence halls. We’d like to thank everyone that supported us during our strike, especially GEO, AFT, our regents, our LT, & everyone on campus that supported us. GEO members had been on strike since Tuesday, Sept. 8 calling on university leadership to ensure better protections from COVID-19 on campus. That strike ended on Thursday, Sept. 17 after a vote from GEO members the previous evening.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Members of the Graduate Employee’s Organization (GEO) voted Wednesday to accept the University of Michigan’s latest offer regarding issues of mutual concern and end their strike. The university and GEO union announced the strike end Thursday morning. “GEO said its members would return to their duties beginning this morning,” reads a statement from the university. At our largest general membership meeting to date, 1,074 GEO members voted to accept the university’s offer, 239 members voted to reject, and 66 abstained. GEO members and supporters now return to our regular work duties.

Maren Spolum and Dr. Hannah Maier from Public Health will speak on the public health implications of GEO's demands. pic.twitter.com/qcTi6pZ3Ns — GEO at U-Michigan (@geo3550) September 16, 2020U-M postdoctoral research fellow in Epidemiology Hannah Maier and public health doctoral student Maren Spolum each spoke on the public health implications of GEO’s demands. She discussed how policing is related to public health and how data from DPSS supports GEO’s demand to disarm police on campus. Addressing the U-M’s claim that some demands are not bargaining items, GEO member Sasha Bishop went over each of GEO’s anti-policing demands. Bishop elaborated on why the student unions' demands address the university’s commitment to diversity and inclusion.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – On Friday, undergraduate students at the University of Michigan voiced support for graduate students and resident advisors on strike through a solidarity protest and march. More than 250 undergraduates and members of Students Demand Representation, a U-M student activist organization, listened to speeches given from the steps of the Michigan Union about labor unions and the safety of university workers. After the speeches, undergraduate students marched through downtown Ann Arbor and across campus to join those on strike and to support U-M Dining employees who staged a walkout last week. On Monday afternoon, University of Michigan president Mark Schlissel said through video that the university has taken legal action against the strike. According to University spokesman Rick Fitzgerald, the move includes a “temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction against the union strike.”More University of Michigan strike coverage:

ANN ARBOR – In a video message released on Monday afternoon, University of Michigan’s president Mark Schlissel revealed that the school has asked the courts to intervene with the ongoing graduate student instructors strike. The group’s demands also include the defunding and disarming of U-M’s Division of Public Safety and Security, a universal remote work option and subsidies for child care. The group rejected an initial offer by the university last week, saying it did not meet their demands. “The way that they responded to COVID is very much like valuing profit over human lives.”The strike has garnered national media attention as well as support from federal, state, and local government officials. Related reading

DETROIT – About 2100 members of the University of Michigan’s Graduate Employees Organization launched a strike Tuesday to demand better protections against COVID-19, in addition to new anti-policing measures. WATCH Local 4 News at 11Metro Detroit weather: Warm Saturday evening, showers arriveSkies become mostly cloudy Saturday evening. Scattered showers moving from the west. Rain showers and thunderstorms become more widespread, Saturday night. 4 Fast FactsFriday, Sept. 11, 2020 --

GEO members are calling for the university to help make the campus safer amid the pandemic, requesting U-M to increase and randomize COVID-19 testing. A U-M student who reportedly tested positive for COVID-19 visited the Moore Building on Sept. 1-4. GEO members say the strike will continue until their demands are met. The university stands ready to continue discussions with GEO so that all students are able to continue their studies without further interruption. Related: Michigan State University students asked to self-quarantine amid surge of coronavirus (COVID-19) cases