**there is a tiny technical problem between minute 5 and 8**

Now that the Graduate Employees’ Organization (GEO) has received a counter proposal from the administration, this bargaining session saw the leads, Essam (Education Policy) and Sam (History), ask clarifying questions on the nature of the admin's proposal.

The host, ben (History), gets some detailed insights about the difference between a full comprehensive counter proposal and a comprehensive counter package proposal, the latter being what the GEO received from the admin. The episode also delves into the burden the international students who come from non-white, English-speaking countries endure to obtain employment and how that contradicts admin’s language of equity (i.e., their proposal does not recognize, for example, if a Kenyan student who speaks English as a first language to be proficient in English, and therefore must take international English language assessments).

The leads also discuss the strategic vagueness of the admin’s proposal that does not commit the admin to changing anything but only that they ‘will explore’ certain actions. Lastly, the episode concludes with Essam highlighting how the admin’s language on modality employment is exclusionary and discriminatory (with imperialist entanglements), which again contradicts the admin’s stance on their proposal being equitable.

The leads and ben end the episode with a plea to members on the importance of showing up to these bargaining sessions. It is time to constantly remind the administration that the university works because we do! Show up on the 19th/9/2022!

This podcast is a great way to get caught up if you missed the bargaining session, or want to hear more about the full contract bargaining process in general! For more about full contract bargaining, check out the GEO website.