It should be remembered that the GEO strike did not have to happen.

In the GEO’s contract, which expired over 200 days ago, there was a no-strike clause that forbade any work-strike action. If the University administration really valued the education undergraduates receive here, it would have prioritized finalizing a new contract before the old one expired, thus avoiding any possibility of a strike.

Instead, it has made every effort to prolong the negotiations. It is no coincidence that there have been four strikes on campus in four years by various labor unions. The single common denominator is the University administration, which intentionally allows contracts to lapse using well-known delaying tactics.

The University’s bargaining team, whose combined salary alone would cover much of the GEO’s demands, is paid to attend bargaining sessions. Meanwhile, GEO’s bargaining team is composed entirely of volunteers. The administration regularly fails to respond in a timely fashion to proposals and spends hours wasting time during sessions. When asked to stay as late as it takes, they have refused.

The GEO finally was forced to request outside mediators to move the bargaining process forward.

The GEO does not want to strike. If it did, it would have begun the strike the first day the contract expired. Instead, members have gone to work for well over half a year without a contract. When undergraduates at this University feel cheated out of classes canceled by the strike, they should remember that a strike was not inevitable, but that the administration’s refusal to bargain seriously and quickly has caused one.

Clayton is a Ph.D. candidate in LAS.

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