October 2024 HELU Chair’s Message

From Mia McIver, HELU Chair, UC-AFT Local 1474

Dear HELU Members and Friends,

On October 28th, HELU will take the next step to realize the platform for higher ed laid out in the Statement of Unity. We’re convening a national Higher Ed Votes event to inspire and re-energize you and your co-workers in the home stretch of the presidential election. Monday’s Zoom event will be a space where we can all see, hear, and feel the vital importance of what we’re fighting for: full funding, expanded access, sustainable working conditions, and federal policy leadership to reclaim higher education as a public good. 

The scope of the higher ed labor crisis is so vast that no one union can tackle it alone. That’s why HELU is working with so many coalition partners to carry this work forward. On October 28th, you’ll have a chance to hear from Washington Congressmember Pramila Jayapal and Arizona Congressional Candidate Kirsten Engel about their higher ed plans and priorities. AFT President Randi Weingarten, CWA President Claude Cummings and and Vice-President Margaret Cook, and UAW President Shawn Fain will share their commitment to college and university workers, the stakes of the upcoming election, and opportunities to take action. 

I’m excited to see the issues and challenges that we face every day as higher ed workers being widely and publicly recognized. To achieve the changes we so desperately want and need on our campuses, we all need to engage in political organizing. Logging on to Higher Ed Votes is one simple thing you can do to make a difference, especially if you’re feeling pessimistic right about now. We’ll help you find ways to plug in to voter turnout efforts so you’ll know you’re doing everything you can to protect and defend higher education and the multiracial democracy that depends on it.

See you on Monday, October 28th! Register for Higher Ed Votes here.

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