what we have done


We have the experience, knowledge, skills, and a proven track record of building a powerful, militant, democratic union. The members of the BAM slate were all big players in changing our union culture to be democratic and militant, and we plan to continue building that culture. In the past three months, we have:

  • Built a powerful steward network: In the 2.5 months since our election, we have created a steward structure composed of 118 stewards and officers across all 7 regions representing 47 different departments. 

  • Revitalized our membership drive: Over 600 new members or agency fee payers,

  • Resolved the TCAT grievance, bringing free TCAT to all grads: One of the key benefits provided by our contract is that all doctoral and in-unit Master’s workers have free, automatic TCAT OmniRide pass, allowing them to commute to work and navigate the town at no cost. It took Cornell months to attempt to activate these passes.. Meanwhile, hundreds of members of our bargaining unit had their ID cards declined when boarding buses over the summer and at the beginning of this semester. We fought this blatant contract violation by filing a grievance and waging an email/comms pressure campaign and now, all doctoral and in-unit Master’s workers’ TCAT passes are up and running!  

  • Established standing committees for active membership engagement: We have established 5 committees run by rank-and-file members: Communications Committee, Data Committee, Political Action Committee, Social Committee, and Trans Rights Action Committee. 

  • Renewed efforts to protect trans workers: In the wake of the attacks on trans people on this campus and in this country, we formed the Trans Rights Action Committee to connect political action, community building, and contract enforcement to help develop a budding mutual aid network in Ithaca and assert CGSU-UE as a fighting force to protect its trans members.

  • Waged campus-wide contract fights and won major grievances: We won M.S. in ILR grads their jobs back after Cornell tried to push them out of the bargaining unit. By grieving under our Accommodations Article, we have set a monumental precedent for grad workers across campus by securing SDS consideration for employment accommodations under Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act. This resolution not only directly benefits the grad whom we represented in our fight with SDS and Cornell Admin, but all other grads who seek employment accommodations for their duties as researchers and educators.

  • Transformed General Membership Meetings into venues for robust member-to-member engagement and democratic decision-making: We’ve led the charge in making our general membership meetings the cornerstone of our union democracy by making them open and discussion-based. Regular attendance for GMMs is 100+ and growing.

  • Created more transparent membership-wide communication: We have created a monthly membership-wide newsletter, The Stew, which has enabled members to stay up-to-date on our current fights, CGSU-UE events, and solidarity actions. We have also produced new zines and redesigned our website to facilitate access to CGSU-UE information.

  • Welcomed a new cohort of CGSU-UE members: We hosted multiple orientation events for incoming first-year graduate workers before and during the first week of class, creating a union culture from the moment new grads set foot on campus. 

  • Revitalized our data infrastructure: Through reforming our data management system and introducing a system of direct dues payment for fellows, we have created a data infrastructure that can serve stewards and officers for years to come.