February 13, 2026: Graduate workers strengthen commitment to open bargaining after HR and MERC shut down bargaining

After last week’s peaceful and silent delivery of letters to U-M’s bargaining team asking them to come to the table to discuss grad workers’ and community members' concerns around ICE and campus safety, HR yet again refused to discuss these demands face-to-face. We planned a picket highlighting our determination to have these vital conversations with HR. On Thursday morning, we received a letter from the state-appointed mediator, Micki Czerniak, framing our action as “prohibited conduct” and unilaterally suspending bargaining and initiating a “cooling-off period” of twenty-eight days. Rather than talk to us directly, the letter cherry-picks information from The Michigan Daily and our social media. ----- Hear from U-M grad workers beck, Anu, and Anja about the latest news from the bargaining room, and come back next week for updates from our next (not bargaining) session on Friday, February 20. Stay tuned for more updates! Read our bargaining bulletins: https://www.geo3550.org/news/bargaining/ Follow us on Instagram: https://instagram.com/geo_3550/ Visit our website: https://www.geo3550.org Join our allies mailing list: https://www.geo3550.org/join/allies Donate to the Worker Solidarity Fund: https://bit.ly/GEOWorkerSolidarity