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ALT Grey gradient background with a silhouette of a crowd of people with their fists up and someone in the middle on a bullhorn. Text reads: GASS Celebrates May Day! GASS Celebrates International Workers’ Day! The GASS logo is at the bottom.
ALT Gradient grey background. There’s a light grey box with text that reads: Today is to celebrate important protests in 1886 about workers’ rights. The protests were about protecting workers’ rights. May Day is a way for all workers to remember that we are powerful when we advocate together! May Day is also called International Workers’ Day. Below the text, there’s an illustration of fists with protest signs.
ALT Grey background with a drawing of a crowd with protest signs. Text in a grey box reads: It used to be normal to work 14 hours a day for 7 days a week. That meant no weekends or days off. Bosses said these rules could not change. In 1886, many workers in Chicago stopped working. They said they would not keep working until they got treated better at work. Police killed some of the workers who stopped working. People got angry because police killed the workers. People all over the world started fighting for companies to treat workers better.
ALT Grey gradient background. Text reads: Today it is normal to get 8 hour workdays. It is now normal to not work every day of the week. It is normal because workers fought hard to make companies follow rules about treating workers better. Today, companies and bosses still say that they can not treat workers better. But that is wrong. Workers like us know that we can keep fighting to be treated better at work. May Day reminds us that workers in the past fought hard and that we can, too.
ALT Grey gradient background with a silhouette of a crowd of people with their fists up and someone in the middle on a bullhorn. Text reads: This May Day or International Workers’ Day, it is important to celebrate our wins. This celebration gives us the energy to keep fighting for our future. The GASS logo is at the bottom.
ALT Pastel rainbow colored background. There's a photo of Teighlor McGee in the center, a smiling Black person with curly red hair wearing a yellow cardigan in front of a brick wall. Text reads: GASS remembers Teighlor McGee. 4 years ago today, we lost an incredible activist and advocate, Teighlor McGee (she/they). Though her time was cut short, she had an enormous impact on her communities and those around her. From their time working at ASAN to founding the Black Disability Collective and beyond, Teighlor’s love for their community and passion for disability justice always came through.
ALT Rainbow pastel background. In a white box text reads: Many members of GASS had the privilege of working with Teighlor during her time at ASAN. For all of us, we try to embody the values that Teighlor lived and the legacy they left behind, in both our work at ASAN and organizing with our union.
ALT The Teighlor McGee Grassroots Mini Grants Program is an ASAN program named in Teighlor’s honor. This program funds disability advocacy projects that might otherwise not be able to access funding. Many of the mini grants work to improve things for autistic people of color. In her time at ASAN, Teighlor was part of planning for this program, which is why they are named after her. Programs like this make such big differences to our community and as we work on this program, we are proud to expand on the work that Teighlor did.
ALT Rainbow pastel background. Text reads: Today, on the anniversary of Teighlor’s passing, we encourage everyone to take some time to learn about Teighlor McGee. Think of Teighlor as you celebrate Autism Acceptance Month, as you advocate for racial justice in disability spaces, as you fight to make our world a better place. Thank you Teighlor. In a box, there's a quote by Teighlor: "There is a place for disabled people in community organizing, and I hope that people never forget that."
ALT Light blue gradient background. There’s an illustration of a blue ice cube melting. Large blue text at the top read: Abolish ICE. Text below reads: Full plain language statement on website. The GASS logo is at the bottom.
ALT Light blue background. Text inside a dark blue box reads: The Guild of Autistic Self-Advocate Staff (GASS) wrote a plain language statement about ICE. You can read our full statement on our website. This post will have excerpts from the statement. Text below reads: ICE stands for “U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement”. ICE is the part of the government in charge of trying to find undocumented people and make them leave the United States. Undocumented means someone does not have the government papers that say they are allowed to live in the U.S. GASS wants ICE to be abolished. To abolish something means to end or get rid of it. GASS wants the U.S. government to get rid of ICE.
ALT Light blue background. Text reads: ICE is more likely to hurt people with disabilities. It is wrong that ICE is more likely to hurt people with disabilities. ICE also specifically hurts autistic people. Some ways that ICE hurt autistic people recently are: ICE detained an autistic teenager in Houston, without telling his mother. ICE kept an autistic five year old outside to force her father to come out, so ICE could detain him. ICE dragged an autistic woman out of her car. ICE hurts people in ways that give them disabilities, or makes their disabilities worse. For example, sometimes people protest against ICE. ICE disables protestors by hurting their bodies with things like rubber bullets or tear gas. ICE causes disabilities when they don’t give health care to the people they detain. People can also die from not getting the health care they need. For example, many children detained by ICE died from getting sick. But if they had medicine, the children could have gotten better.
ALT Light blue background. Text inside a dark blue box reads: It is wrong that many other disability advocacy groups stay silent about ICE. Some disability advocacy groups will say ICE is bad, but don’t say ICE should be abolished. GASS thinks it is important to share all of what we believe. GASS knows that there is no way to make ICE better or more fair. Giving ICE more training or less money from the government won’t make ICE stop hurting people. That is because ICE’s goal is to get rid of people of color in the U.S. ICE will keep hurting and killing people of color to try and achieve that goal. So GASS believes that ICE must be abolished.
ALT Black text in a white box over a colorful background reads "Probationary Periods and Why They Suck. A probationary period is a specific time when a worker starts their new job. Probationary periods can last different amounts of time. They can be two months, six months, one year, or another amount of time. Probationary employees are workers in a probation period. During a probationary period, new workers do not get as many protections from their labor union. Unions have rules about what happens when union members get in trouble at work. Unions also have rules about what happens when union members get fired. These rules help make sure union members are treated fairly. But bosses do not have to follow these rules for a new worker in a probationary period. That is unfair." The GASS logo appears at the bottom.
ALT A graphic with a colorful background and a white box. The header says, "What is a Union? Words to Know" The bulleted list says, "Bargaining: coming up with a contract for the workers and management at the place you work. Bargaining committee: members of the union who help write the contract and meet with management. Collective bargaining: the right to negotiate with management to make a contract. Discipline meeting: a meeting where management talks to you about something they think you did wrong at work. Negotiate: trying to make an agreement with someone. Organize: start a union with your co-workers. Union: a group of workers who come together to protect their rights at work. Wall to wall union: a kind of union where everyone who works at the place you work can be a part of it."
ALT A graphic with a colorful background and a white box. The header says "What is a union?" The rest of the text says, "A union is a group of workers who come together to protect their rights at work. Some people think a union is a group from outside a workplace. They think a union will stop workers from talking to their employers. This is not true. Workers form unions. The people in a union all work together. An employer is someone who pays you to do work. Some employers say that unions are not important today. That is not true. People who are in charge of businesses also negotiate their contracts like unions. Negotiating means trying to make an agreement with someone. Both contracts talk about things like how much you get paid, when you work, what happens if you get in trouble at work, what happens if you get fired, what happens if you retire, what happens when you are sick, what happens when you want to take a vacation, how your employer will protect you, and more"
ALT A graphic with a colorful background and a white box. The text says, "It should not be different for workers! Workers should not have fewer rights. Having a union is the only way to negotiate a contract and make our jobs a better place. Some unions include all the people who work somewhere. Other unions are just for people who work in a specific part of the company. For example, the Guild of Autistic Self-Advocate Staff (GASS) is a wall to wall union. A wall to wall union means that everyone who works at the place you work can be a part of it. Workers get a lot of important rights when we form a union. One of the most important rights we get is the right to collective bargaining. Bargaining means coming up with a contract for the workers and management at the place you work. Collective bargaining is the right to negotiate with management to make a contract. The law says your employer has to bargain with you and your co-workers after you organize.
ALT Text says, "Organizing here means starting a union with your co-workers. It can take a long time to win your first contract. Sometimes a contract can take weeks, months, or even years. The bargaining committee meets with management to bargain. The bargaining committee are members of the union. They help write the contract and meet with management. After the bargaining committee and the employer agree on a contract, your union will vote. If your union votes for the contract, your employer cannot change your contract or take it away. The law says your employer has to follow the contract. If your workplace already has a union and you have a question, you can talk to a steward. Stewards are union members who get extra training about management. They help other members of the union. A steward is a good person to ask to join a discipline meeting. A discipline meeting is a meeting where management talks to you about something they think you did wrong at work." The GASS logo is on the bottom.
ALT Union logo in front of light rainbow gradient background. There is a circle of text that reads Guild of Autistic Self-Advocate Staff, Newsguild-CWA, Local 39521. Inside the circle is a hexagon with a fist holding a rainbow infinity sign.