SP Candidate for Graduate Employee Union Secretary Treasurer, UMass Amherst

Matthew Andrews, 25, is Male Vice-Chair of the Socialist Party USA and a Labor Studies student at UMass Amherst. He is a candidate in a special election being held to elect a new Secretary Treasurer for GEO, the graduate employees union which represents 2,500 workers. GEO members can vote Monday, Feb. 6 and Tuesday, Feb. 7 in the Campus Center concourse from 10am to 4pm and during the membership meeting 6pm on Wednesday Feb. 8 in the Campus Center room 162-175.

STATEMENT OF CANDIDACY

We are the union. Unity, democracy and grassroots participation by graduate student employees is the foundation of our strength. I am running for Secretary Treasurer to build upon GEO’s strengths and challenge attitudes of dependency on politicians and the law. Our last contract campaign made clear that we can expect a constant assault on the gains GEO has won unless we demonstrate a willingness to disrupt business as usual through collective action.

We cannot be strong by ourselves. We must build solidarity with other unions on campus, other grad students in the UMass system, and other Massachusetts public employees. GEO must be an ally in other social movements, for affordable higher education, universal health care, civil rights and against the occupations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Meaningful solidarity can only come when we share in each other’s struggles.

UMass, like other employers across the country, is trying to force rising health care costs onto employees. Military spending leeches half a trillion dollars from our federal budget, while social services, including funding for higher education and public employee wages, are being cut back. Our brothers and sisters at NYU are currently on strike to maintain union recognition and the right to bargain a new contract. Our immediate needs as university employees, and the long-term need for fundamental economic and social change, are inseparable. We must push forward or expect to be pushed back.

I am in my second year at the Labor Relations Research Center. I have been an activist for many years including most recently with GEO, the UMass Antiwar Coalition and other local causes. I have been both Secretary and Treasurer of the Young People's Socialist League. From that experience I have learned how to keep important membership and financial records, as well as set up organizational structures that facilitate getting work done. Last fall I was elected Male Vice-Chair of the Socialist Party USA at our national convention in Newark, New Jersey. This has given me additional leadership experience in a membership organization with an office and staff.

I have enormous respect for the work you do, and the fact that GEO is funded by your dues. As Secretary-Treasurer, I will dedicate myself to ensuring that every dollar spent serves your interests. As a Labor Center student, I will apply my education to make GEO more effective. As a socialist, I will link struggles and raise our standards for success. I am honored by the opportunity to offer you a meaningful choice in this election.


Matthew Andrews can be reached at mrandrew@lrrc.umass.edu