The University of Michigan's Board of Regents has requested court intervention in what is now a four-day strike by the university's Graduate Employee Organization, arguing the unionized graduate student instructors are legally required to return to the classroom.
The university's Board of Regents is seeking a preliminary injunction and temporary restraining order to end the Graduate Employee's Organization strike that began on Wednesday, arguing that the walkout in the middle of the semester is "jeopardizing a student’s ability to take final exams, complete necessary course work, graduate" and complete educational degrees.
The university argued in the legal claim filed Thursday in Washtenaw County Circuit Court that the GEO has breached its contract, which explicitly prohibits striking, and that the strike is illegal under Michigan law. The GEO acknowledges the illegality of the strike on its website and the breach of contract but says UM is "highly unlikely to fire all of its GSIs and GSSAs because of how essential grad workers are to its day-to-day operations."
