The University of Michigan’s graduate student union accused the university of using felony criminal charges against its president to interfere with contract negotiations.
The Graduate Employees Organization said it filed an unfair labor practice charge against U-M on Wednesday, Oct. 14, according to a union statement published the next day. GEO alleges the university violated the Public Employment Relations Act by seeking criminal charges against President Hiab Teshome to block her from serving as a bargaining representative.
Teshome, a Medical School student, was charged with embezzlement and false pretenses in June based on a complaint from the university, The Michigan Daily reported. The charges concerned purchases by a student organization for which she was a co-signer, according to GEO. A district court judge dismissed both charges Aug. 6, the union said.
GEO said U-M police requested the charges and the Washtenaw County prosecutor pursued them. The union also said police sought restrictions barring Teshome from campus and the Ruthven Building, where the Board of Regents has its offices. According to GEO, the campuswide restriction was not granted, but the building restriction was imposed.
“These charges were an attempt to limit Hiab from appearing as a bargaining representative and to restrict her rights as a public employee,” the union’s statement said.
University spokesperson Paul Corliss denied the allegations in an email to The Michigan Daily.
“Allegations that the university took action against Ms. Teshome because of her union leadership or participation in collective bargaining are unfounded and any suggestion that the university sought to retaliate against her for protected union activity is false,” Corliss wrote.
The dispute comes amid negotiations that began in November 2025. The parties held their 24th bargaining session Oct. 2, according to U-M’s bargaining updates. Only two tentative agreements have been reached, and more than 50 provisions remain unresolved.
GEO’s previous contract expired May 1, but its terms remain in effect under an evergreen clause, The Michigan Daily reported.
The two sides remain far apart on pay. U-M offered annual raises of 2.5% over four years on Sept. 18. GEO is seeking annual increases of 9% or the applicable Consumer Price Index increase, whichever is greater, over three years.
GEO Communications Chair Natalie Chen told The Michigan Daily that pursuing felony charges contradicted the university’s student organization accountability procedures, which describe an educational rather than legal process.
The union’s bargaining demands also include protections for international students and trans workers. It has emphasized immigration protections following the April firing and subsequent detention by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement of graduate student instructor Philippe Kame, according to The Michigan Daily.
Corliss said U-M remains committed to good-faith bargaining toward a fair and sustainable agreement.
U-M says the parties met with a state-appointed fact-finder Sept. 24. That process involves a neutral fact-finder who conducts a hearing and issues nonbinding recommendations, according to the university’s explanation.
