Welcome back, it’s Blitz time at COGS! Blitz is a two-week time period where you can come out and help organize your fellow graduate students. Lots of changes are underway at the University, and we are committed to advocating in the best interests of graduate employees, our working conditions, our departments, our faculty advisors, and the students we teach. It’s a great opportunity to meet other people, work with some amazing UE organizers (and former COGS members!), and let others know how our collective voice has improved our conditions and strengthened the university for 20 years. As a right-to-work state, the responsibility is on us to seek out the new cohorts of graduate students each year and explain the benefits of union membership.
If you’ve never Blitzed before, that’s ok! When you sign up for a 2-hour shift, you will be paired with a UE staff organizer and/or an experienced COGS member to meet and talk to graduate assistants around campus about COGS, our current campaigns, and how to get involved. It’s as simple as talking to people about why you joined the union and how COGS has impacted you. You can speak with people in your own department who may not know about COGS yet or meet new people in other departments around campus. Shifts are available in 2 hour time blocks starting Monday 9/14 – Friday 9/25. The time slots are 9-11, 11-1, 1-3, and 3-5. And, if you’re more on the introverted side, but would still like to support COGS during Blitz, you can volunteer any time on Monday 9/14 at the COGS office in the Old Brick building. We will be busy preparing the mailing that contains our new 2015-17 contracts. If you are interested in volunteering, or would like more information, please contact me directly or send an email to [email protected]!
In solidarity,
Nicole Filloon, VP of Organizing
[email protected] or [email protected]