- CGE Newsletter - lists.cge6069.org

Free Community Defense Training and Other Events!
by Erika Stewart 17 Feb '25

17 Feb '25

CGE Members and Community, Community Defender Training: Tuesday, Feb 25th, 11:45am at WestM! Join CGE and WestM on Tuesday, February 25th from 12-1:30 pm for a free community defense training. We'll be watching the National Immigration Project's webinar "Community Defender Training: Unmasking Expedited Removal: What You Need to Know to Fight Back" and having a community discussion. Meet in the McLean room at WestM (101 NW 23rd St) and bring a friend! No need to register, but for more information check out their website <https://nipnlg.org/events/community-trainings>. Steward Council Nominations have gone LIVE! Our union's Steward Council is an elected body of field organizers who represent our coworkers in the workplace, make high-level decisions on behalf of our Union, and shape our collective identity as Graduate Employees at Oregon State University. Stewards are not just conduits of information, we are leaders in our departments and are responsible for organizing our fellow workers at OSU. We strive to have one (1) steward per every ten (10) graduate students (who are eligible for membership or associate membership) in each department at OSU. Click here <https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/14GJKeif3hKU-xIJfTsPPMWuVUUfUBncDn7P…> to check how many seats are allotted for your employing unit. Nominate coworkers to represent their department using this form <https://forms.gle/FKwzrjJYKk4r56rMA>! Nominations will remain open until Sunday, February 23rd at 11:59 pm. Steward election ballots will be sent through OpaVote on Wednesday, February 26th! Note: You may nominate yourself, you may nominate multiple stewards, and you may nominate stewards outside your department. The only requirement for nominations is that you are a dues paying member of CGE. While we encourage folks to reach out to those they'd like to nominate to discuss the role, it is not required. We will confirm with all nominees that they in fact want to be stewards before carrying them over to elections. IF YOU ARE CURRENTLY A STEWARD AND PLAN TO SERVE AGAIN NEXT YEAR, YOU MUST NOMINATE YOURSELF TO RUN AGAIN! :) If you have any questions related to steward nominations or elections, please reach out to vp_organizing(a)cge6069.org. Contract Action Team (CAT) Meetings every Wednesday, 4-5pm in the WestM Student Lounge! We need more CATs! Our CATs do all of our on-the-ground work, including turnout to events, talking to members, planning actions, and so much more. You can commit as much or as little time as you have. If, since the strike, you have wanted to continue to be involved in organizing efforts, but don’t know where to start, come to a CAT meeting in the Westminster House Student Lounge (101 NW 23rd St)! UPCOMING EVENTS: WGSS Reel Life: Film Series and Conversation: Monday, February 24th, 5-8pm in the WestM McLean Room! Join OSU;s Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies; Queer Studies; Graduate Student Association; and CGE for a screening of Matthew Warchus’ 2014 film Pride! Come meet your fellow workers and watch the true story of the queer activists who helped raise money for the families of strikers in the British miner’s strike of 1984! CGE’s Annual Brew-Off is coming up! In early June, CGE and GTFF (UofO’s graduate worker union) will be hosting our annual Brew-Off! If you are a home brewer (of beer, cider, wine, mead, kombucha, or anything brew-able), it’s time to get brewing! Compete with us against GTFF and show off your brews to CGE membership and community. If you have any questions about the event, contact Rachael, our VP for Social Activities, at activities(a)cge6069.org. Solidarity forever, Erika, VP for Communications

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Winter GMM this WEDNESDAY! Talk to your coworkers!
by Erika Stewart 10 Feb '25

10 Feb '25

CGE Members and Community, Our Winter General Membership Meeting (GMM) is this Wednesday, February 12th, at 5-7pm in LINC 128! At the GMM, we’ll have the usual officer updates from our Executive Council, as well as time for members to meet each other and make organizing plans together. We will also be discussing Steward Nominations for next year! GMMs are an essential part of our continued organizing, and are a great place to meet and organize with both leadership and membership outside of your department. Staying involved and staying informed is how members can keep our union strong. Talk to your friends and coworkers about coming together! Steward Council Nominations have gone LIVE! Our union's Steward Council is an elected body of field organizers who represent our coworkers in the workplace, make high-level decisions on behalf of our Union, and shape our collective identity as Graduate Employees at Oregon State University. Stewards are not just conduits of information, we are leaders in our departments and are responsible for organizing our fellow workers at OSU. We strive to have one (1) steward per every ten (10) graduate students (who are eligible for membership or associate membership) in each department at OSU. Click here <https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/14GJKeif3hKU-xIJfTsPPMWuVUUfUBncDn7P…> to check how many seats are allotted for your employing unit. Nominate coworkers to represent their department using this form <https://forms.gle/FKwzrjJYKk4r56rMA>! Nominations will remain open until Sunday, February 23rd at 11:59 pm. Steward election ballots will be sent through OpaVote on Wednesday, February 26th! Note: You may nominate yourself, you may nominate multiple stewards, and you may nominate stewards outside your department. The only requirement for nominations is that you are a dues paying member of CGE. While we encourage folks to reach out to those they'd like to nominate to discuss the role, it is not required. We will confirm with all nominees that they in fact want to be stewards before carrying them over to elections. IF YOU ARE CURRENTLY A STEWARD AND PLAN TO SERVE AGAIN NEXT YEAR, YOU MUST NOMINATE YOURSELF TO RUN AGAIN! :) If you have any questions related to steward nominations or elections, please reach out to vp_organizing(a)cge6069.org. Contract Action Team (CAT) Meetings every Wednesday, 4-5pm in the WestM Student Lounge! We need more CATs! Our CATs do all of our on-the-ground work, including turnout to events, talking to members, planning actions, and so much more. You can commit as much or as little time as you have. If, since the strike, you have wanted to continue to be involved in organizing efforts, but don’t know where to start, come to a CAT meeting in the Westminster House Student Lounge (101 NW 23rd St)! UPCOMING EVENTS: WGSS Reel Life: Film Series and Conversation: Monday, February 24th, 5-8pm in the WestM McLean Room! Join OSU;s Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies; Queer Studies; Graduate Student Association; and CGE for a screening of Matthew Warchus’ 2014 film Pride! Come meet your fellow workers and watch the true story of the queer activists who helped raise money for the families of strikers in the British miner’s strike of 1984! CGE’s Annual Brew-Off is coming up! In early June, CGE and GTFF (UofO’s graduate worker union) will be hosting our annual Brew-Off! If you are a home brewer (of beer, cider, wine, mead, kombucha, or anything brew-able), it’s time to get brewing! Compete with us against GTFF and show off your brews to CGE membership and community. If you have any questions about the event, contact Rachael, our VP for Social Activities, at activities(a)cge6069.org. Solidarity forever, Erika, VP for Communications

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CORRECTION: GMM is 2/12!
by Erika Stewart 03 Feb '25

03 Feb '25

Our Winter General Membership Meeting (GMM) is NEXT WEDNESDAY, February 12th at 5-7pm in LINC 128! It is NOT this Friday! Sorry for the correction; please put it in your calendar! Solidarity, Erika (VP for Communications)

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Winter GMM, UAOSU Rally, Steward and ASOSU Nominations!
by Erika Stewart 03 Feb '25

03 Feb '25

CGE Members and Community, Our Winter General Membership Meeting (GMM) is this Friday, February 7th, at 5-7pm in LINC 128! At the GMM, we’ll have the usual officer updates from our Executive Council, as well as time for members to meet each other and make organizing plans together. We will also be discussing Steward Nominations for next year! GMMs are an essential part of our continued organizing, and are a great place to meet and organize with both leadership and membership outside of your department. Staying involved and staying informed is how members can keep our union strong! UAOSU (our faculty union) is having a rally for fair pay this Thursday 11:45am-12:45pm at the Library Quad! As UAOSU continues to bargain with OSU for better pay, we are calling on all of you to show up in solidarity with them this Thursday! At least one department is organizing a walkout during that time, and we encourage you all to reach out to your stewards to do the same! We are all fighting for a better OSU, and coalition building is essential for the future of both CGE and UAOSU. Steward Council Nominations have gone LIVE! Our union's Steward Council is an elected body of field organizers who represent our coworkers in the workplace, make high-level decisions on behalf of our Union, and shape our collective identity as Graduate Employees at Oregon State University. Stewards are not just conduits of information, we are leaders in our departments and are responsible for organizing our fellow workers at OSU. We strive to have one (1) steward per every ten (10) graduate students (who are eligible for membership or associate membership) in each department at OSU. Click here <https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/14GJKeif3hKU-xIJfTsPPMWuVUUfUBncDn7P…> to check how many seats are allotted for your employing unit. Nominate coworkers to represent their department using this form <https://forms.gle/FKwzrjJYKk4r56rMA>! Nominations will remain open until Sunday, February 23rd at 11:59 pm. Steward election ballots will be sent through OpaVote on Wednesday, February 26th! Note: You may nominate yourself, you may nominate multiple stewards, and you may nominate stewards outside your department. The only requirement for nominations is that you are a dues paying member of CGE. While we encourage folks to reach out to those they'd like to nominate to discuss the role, it is not required. We will confirm with all nominees that they in fact want to be stewards before carrying them over to elections. IF YOU ARE CURRENTLY A STEWARD AND PLAN TO SERVE AGAIN NEXT YEAR, YOU MUST NOMINATE YOURSELF TO RUN AGAIN! :) If you have any questions related to steward nominations or elections, please reach out to vp_organizing(a)cge6069.org. ASOSU Election Nominations are now open! ASOSU is the student government at OSU. It represents all Corvallis campus students (undergrad and grad), and is student’s access to “shared governance” of the university. ASOSU controls the incidental fee rate and how it’s spent, amounting to around $35M annually. This covers several aspects of the university, including the basic needs center, student tickets for athletics, support for parents who are students, cultural centers, and more. It also funds the wages of around 1000 student workers and a handful of grad workers. Elections and nominations for the elected positions within ASOSU are held annually. The nominations for the 2025-2026 ASOSU positions are now open until February 7th. Click here to read more about the positions and how to run! <https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xu8Xemhb3nBYqEzxgp6MdrKeKhGLLI5oWCek71o…> There are three graduate senate seats available, and more positions beyond that. If you are interested in running, fill out the candidacy form here <https://forms.gle/EkRqWv6pCsaTxouy8> and email your VP for Political Engagement, Luke Nearhood, at vp_politics(a)cge6069.org! Solidarity forever, Erika, VP for Communications

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Hardship Fund, Contract Action Team Meetings, and a note about the Winter GMM
by Lauren Nelson 24 Jan '25

24 Jan '25

Hello fellow workers, Welcome to the new newsletter format! Going forward, we’ll be using this listserv instead of Mailchimp. We still have all-member and all-bargaining-unit listservs set up, but this list also enables community members, alumni, and others to subscribe and stay caught up on what we’re working on. Hardship Fund is live! CGE’s Hardship Fund applications opened on Tuesday (1/21) and closes at the end of Week 5! The Hardship Fund is open to all CGE members and associate members. There are no strings attached to the hardship fund and you will never be asked to pay back any funds you receive. Information about the Hardship Fund and the link to apply can be found here <https://www.cge6069.org/connect/hardship/>. Keep in mind that the hardship fund is powered entirely by associate member and legacy member dues. OSU’s Hardship fund (which we just won higher funding for) has more resources but is much less transparent. If you want assistance applying to OSU’s fund, email solidarity(a)cge6069.org. Contract Action Team meetings are back! The Contract Action Team (CAT) is basically a university-wide organizing committee: a group of workers who want to defend the contract wins we have, educate their fellow workers, and build power by planning direct actions and other organizing campaigns. As a CAT, you can help us expand our wins between contract cycles by addressing worker concerns through pressure campaigns. The CAT meets every Thursday from 4-5 in the WestM Student Lounge (101 NW 23rd St). Coming up: Winter General Membership Meeting Our next regular General Membership Meeting (GMM) is coming up soon, but we’re still finalizing the date and location. We’ll send out information as soon as we have it, but we wanted to send a quick announcement so that you all have it on your radar. At the GMM, we’ll have the usual officer updates from our Executive Council, as well as time for members to meet each other and make organizing plans together. Steward nominations will also open at the Winter GMM. CGE 95 current stewards but well over 100 empty seats. Becoming a leader in your department is an incredible way to build our structure and capacity as an organization. We need stewards in almost every single department, so we’re encouraging everyone to talk to their current stewards or email vp_organizing(a)cge6069.org if you want to talk more about the role. Solidarity forever, Lauren Nelson CGE Staff Organizer

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