I’m Max Fan (he/him), a second-year PhD in Computer Science. I am an Area Lead Steward in Region 6 (Bowers CIS), Trustee, and a proud rank-and-file member of CGSU-UE.

Over the past year, I have been organizing heavily in my region and across campus in order to build a strong, independent, rank-and-file union that can represent the interests of all rank-and-file workers, particularly those who are in my region.

Leading up to the contract ratification, I helped build strike power in my department so that we could secure our industry-leading contract provisions to protect non-citizen workers. After contract ratification, I served as our region’s representative to the Constitution Committee, where I played a key role in enshrining our Local’s member-led democracy to protect rank-and-file control of the direction of our union.

Now, as an Area Lead Steward, I am advocating for my fellow workers through contract enforcement and various mobilizing campaigns. For example, along with Jenna Marvin, Ewa Nizalowska and many other rank-and-file members, we restored full funding for the second-year MS in ILR grad workers who, in a break with past practice, were denied full funding. The second-year MS in ILR cohort, many of whom formed special committees and signed leases under the expectation of full funding, were told weeks before the start of the semester to take out student loans to cover the cost of surprise tuition bills and healthcare coverage or withdraw from their degree program. Organizing and successfully protecting vulnerable grads showed me how union power can change lives and is why I have dedicated so much of my energy to this union.

As a Trustee along with Stephan Wagner and Andrea Cicirello, I am responsible for safeguarding the property of the Local, ensuring that the constitutional norms are being followed, and ensuring the maintenance of proper records and good fiscal discipline. Together with my involvement with the Data Committee, alongside Gabe Sekeres, Stephan Wagner, Andrea Cicirello, and Becca Margolit-Chan, my behind-the-scenes work ensures that the gears of this Local keep turning and that we have a robust strike and defense fund.

As your Region 6 Lead Steward, I would represent our region on the Local Executive Board and be able to vote and effectively advocate for the key decisions that our local will take. This is not a responsibility I take lightly; building consensus among the rank and file takes significant understanding of the workers and organizers in our region and across the university. The upcoming year will be a pivotal year for the future of our local and higher-ed labor unions across the country with attacks on our most vulnerable members, specifically international grads and queer workers. It will be my honor to represent the rank-and-file workers in my region through this critical period. At a time where our institutions choose to abandon the most vulnerable of us, I hope to live up to the monumental responsibility that my fellow workers have entrusted in me.