Thea Rugg

she / her

Running for: Region 2 Lead Steward

I am a rising third-year Ph.D. Student in the Math department, and I have been organizing with CGSU since the spring of my first year, when I was involved in our first department-wide organizing campaign. Over the past year and a half, I have gone on countless office visits and participated in numerous phone banks where I engaged with grad workers from across Cornell. Their stories taught me just how vital our union is to protecting our rights. This past spring, I co-organized an information session for Math grads on the bargaining process, all while working to build a strike threat to win our first contract. Since our contract was ratified, I have served as an interim steward and trained other interim stewards to begin the enforcement of our contract. I am currently leading an effort to secure belated appointment letters for grad workers in Math, a fight which has spread to other departments. I also serve on committees working to secure belated ratification bonuses and develop contract education materials. In Region 2, I am working with other organizers to hold regular meetings for organizers to collaborate on outreach and recruitment plans. I am excited to run for Lead Steward of Region 2 with Fight Together 4 CGSU to protect the rights of all grad workers, to educate our membership for self-advocacy, to recruit new organizers, and to build a robust steward structure to enforce our new contract!