Grad union protestors accused of harassing U of M President Santa Ono
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (CBS DETROIT) - According to a statement released by the University of Michigan, police were called on graduate student union protestors who were harassing university President Santa Ono.
"We're concerned that it's getting out of hand," said university spokesperson Rick Fitzgerald.
Fitzgerald said protestors are beginning to use intimidation tactics after they spotted Ono inside a restaurant on campus and began to bang on the windows.
According to a statement made by the Board of Regents, the protestors came "dangerously close to violence."
"There just seems to be escalation of demonstrations and protests and interfering with the activities particularly that of the president so we are concerned about that," Fitzgerald said.
The Graduate Employees Organization (GEO) shared a video of police detaining two protestors after the alleged incident.
The university recently docked grad assistants pay while they continue their strike.
The grad assistants are demanding a 60% pay raise in addition to several other demands, such as comprehensive gender-affirming care and unarmed intervention specialists to respond to mental health crises on campus.
The list of demands during this round of collective bargaining is vast, but the major sticking point remains on pay.
Currently, graduate assistants make $24,000 per year and wish to increase that pay to $38,000.
With finals underway and the semester almost over, the strike is likely going to cause grading to be delayed.
On the GEO's twitter account, the group called on other faculty not to input grades during the strike.
"So they've left their undergraduate students in a precarious position, but the full time professors are doing their best to step up and fill that gap," Fitzgerald.
