From Mia McIver, HELU Chair, UC-AFT Local 1474
Dear HELU Members and Friends,
This month, HELU reached a momentous milestone. On September 16th at the Community College of Philadelphia (CCP), we rolled out a national Statement of Unity calling for full federal funding of public higher education, expanded access for students, and sustainable working conditions that put an end to exploitative part-time, low-wage, and temporary employment on our campuses.
What’s remarkable about the Statement of Unity is not only these common aims, but also the unprecedented coordination among HELU and 10 national and international unions to affirm them. Intrepid HELU leaders, staff, and allies organized a coalition of stunning scope and scale. Standing with us in signing on to the Statement of Unity are Claude Cummings & Margaret Cook (CWA), Shawn Fain (UAW), Richard Lanigan (OPEIU), Gwen Mills (UNITE HERE), Becky Pringle (NEA), Carl Rosen (UE), Lee Saunders (AFSCME), April Verrett (SEIU), Randi Weingarten (AFT), and Todd Wolfson (AAUP).
HELU Steering Committee member Marissa Johnson-Valenzuela (FSFCCP, AFT Local 2026) deserves special recognition for her role. Marissa worked nonstop for weeks to plan our press conference on her home campus, enabling many of these leaders to be present in the same space and share our vision with the public. That co-presence led in turn to fruitful conversations about future joint actions.
Never before has the need been so clear and the mandate so strong: we must fundamentally change how higher ed works in this country—and who it works for. In some ways, the Statement of Unity represents a culmination of years of HELU’s work. But it’s more properly a launching pad, an opportunity to invigorate local unions and empower higher ed workers to enact these goals.
The next step is a series of HELU-led town halls in Michigan, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, and Arizona, where college and university unionists can engage with each other and strategize around achieving higher ed for all. Yes, those are battleground states in the upcoming presidential election, and yes, HELU is the vanguard in the fight for higher ed for all.
You can watch the Statement of Unity press conference here, see coverage of it in Politico and Inside Higher Ed, and read my remarks here.
Yours in solidarity,
Mia McIver