Graduate Employees Organization, Local 3550

From CGEU

1975- Ann Arbor, MI- Bus Drivers at the Ann Arbor Transportation Authority, represented by the independent Transport Employee Union (TEU), and graduate student employees at the University of Michigan, represented by the Graduate Employees’ Organization Local 3550 American Federation of Teachers, become the first union workers to have sexual preference non-discrimination clauses in their union contracts. GEO won this in their first contract, following a 29-day strike.

2005- Ann Arbor, MI- (April) Graduate Employees’ Organization- Local 3550 American Federation of Teachers. Following a 1-day walkout at the University of Michigan, GEO becomes the first union to fight for and win transgender-inclusive insurance coverage as a result of collective bargaining. GEO also wins non-discrimination language protecting “gender identity or expression.”