At our January General Membership Meeting our membership overwhelmingly approved the creation of a new Solidarity Grant program, which we use to stand in solidarity with our members in their times of need. This program will provide our members with access to moderately sized grants to help them in times of crisis!
Members at the January Jambillee GMM shortly after Solidarity Grant Approval
From our guidelines:
The Solidarity Grant Program established by the Graduate Employees Union AFT #6196 is tasked with the primary purpose of providing financial assistance to Graduate Employees Union members in hardship. As graduate students tend to live paycheck to paycheck, any kind of unanticipated financial cost can cause severe hardship ranging from usurious debt to eviction from one’s home or deportation from the country. Directing resources from the Graduate Employees Union to those in need is an act of solidarity with those members struck with misfortune, embodying the ideal that a strike against one is a strike against all.
If you are a member of the GEU currently suffering a hardship, you can apply for the program at this link: Solidarity Grant Program
For those with more interest in how the program is run and decisions made, please look at our guidelines here: Solidarity Grant Guidelines