Solidarity Statement: This is what solidarity looks like! (in a time of SCOTUS’s rulings)
Thursday, July 20, 2023
Graduate Employees Organization Local 6300
The Graduate Employees’ Organization (GEO) at UIUC, IFT/AFT Local 6300 strongly condemns the Supreme Court’s of the United States (SCOTUS) recent SFFA v. Harvard and SFFA v. UNC rulings regarding affirmative action in college admissions at Harvard and North Carolina. This and other recent SCOTUS decisions from Dobbs, which overturned Roe v. Wade, to the 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis ruling allowing businesses to discriminate against LGBTQIA+ communities, and the Biden v. Nebraska decision preventing student loan forgiveness are built on and reinforce common structures of marginalization: white supremacy and exploitation. These rulings diminish the power and solidarity of working class people in the United States and beyond.
Affirmative action, LGBTQ rights, and student loan debt forgiveness are labor issues. No GEO member should have to take on debt or work multiple jobs to pay off student loans in order to afford graduate school. No graduate worker should have the humiliating experience of being refused service for their gender or sexual orientation. And no graduate worker deserves to be underrepresented and isolated in their university while their peers are denied access due to their race. On Thursday, SCOTUS imposed more barriers that divide us and lead to monolithic institutions of higher education. The future of higher education, which thrives on bringing together people from diverse backgrounds, is under attack. These unelected officials have no oversight nor ethical guidelines, resulting in them prioritizing their wealthy donors and peers over the working class including graduate workers. SCOTUS has failed to protect our rights to affordable education and freedom from racial, gendered, and sexed-based discrimination, making it clear that individualistic solutions cannot solve systemic issues.
Solidarity is one of the most empowering and meaningful tools we have as workers to change our conditions and build better lives. Organizations like our union and other collective solutions are powerful avenues to mitigate the hopelessness of these hard times. As we have done in the past, together we can take agency over our lives and working conditions at this institution. As graduate workers, our solidarity enabled us to win the highest wage increase in GEO 's history, gave more Health Care Resources for parents and caregivers, and eliminated fees for international students. The GEO is only able to thrive with the protection and care for workers of every race, creed, gender identity, sexual orientation, and citizenship. These victories and our future efforts depend on active and inclusive participation and leadership in our Union. We need each other to keep hope and continue fighting for our rights, on and off this campus. Email solcomm@uigeo.org to join the following groups to strengthen solidarity with us and mitigate the effects of these decisions:
Black and Latinx Caucus
Women’s Caucus
We are working on creating a LGBTQ+ caucus and Mutual aid working group. Reach out if interested in supporting this!
Solidarity committee
THIS IS WHAT COMMUNITY LOOKS LIKE!
GEO’s Black and Latinx Work-In during finals week, May 2023.
GEO members, students, and community members in front of Alma Mater during International Working Women’s Day, March 2023.
GEO Solidarity Committee marching in the Pride parade, October 2022.
Solidarity forever!
Graduate Employees’ Organization
809 S. 5th St., Geneva Room
Champaign, IL 61820
Email: geo@uigeo.org