U-M threatened pro-Palestinian students, union alleges

A union at the University of Michigan has filed several grievances that cite the most recent conflict between Israel and Palestinians, which began with the attack Hamas launched against Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

On April 21, 2024, the Graduate Employees’ Organization filed a class action grievance against U-M. It accused then-President Santa Ono of “threatening students” by stating that U-M “will not shy away from protecting the values we hold dear. Those who participate in disruptive activity will be held accountable.”

The GEO criticized the U-M administration for having “contributed to a climate of hostility, harassment, and repression on Palestine-related issues for members of the bargaining unit.” More than 100 undergraduate students, graduate students, staff, alumni, and others signed the document with redacted names. CapCon obtained the documents through a records request.

The student union demanded that the university tell all staff members in written communication that there is an ongoing genocide in Palestine. It also said the university must acknowledge the right of graduate student instructors to engage in pro-Palestine speech in the classroom. The university, it added, needed to ”recognize that pro-Palestine speech is legitimate."

In another action, the union filed a step three grievance — the last of a three-step process for handling grievances — for an employee who, it said, had been intimidated in December 2023 due to his pro-Palestinian views.

Human resources officials rejected the complaint.

“The grievance in this matter is not arbitrable. In the alternative, no violations of the agreement have occurred, and the Union’s grievance is denied,” they said.

In February 2024, GEO filed a grievance against the School of Environment and Sustainability after a graduate student had applied for four positions and was only notified of one rejection within the 10 days. The grievance faulted the university for failing to “provide notification to all unsuccessful applicants within 10 business days, after the position has been formally accepted.” It called for the student to receive a “44% tuition waiver for the Winter 2024 term." It also said the university needed to tell via email everyone who applied to be a graduate student instructor that they had the right to be notified of the status of their application.

The GEO asked for the university to give one graduate student funding from a program meant to, in the university's words, help students “exit a harassing or abusive relationship and transition to a new advisor without losing continuity in financial support.” The student wrote:

“The situation is further exacerbated by the war between Israel and Palestine. I have been unable to sleep in a week, being in this class has been a traumatic experience to say the least. All these factors are making it impossible for me to run sections. ... I would like to apply for transitional funding so that I do not have to return to this unhealthy work environment. Every discussion section further deteriorated my mental health.”