From Ian Gavigan, HELU National Director
In October, HELU launched its Higher Ed for All Roadshows in two battleground states: Pennsylvania and Michigan.
On October 17 at the Community College of Philadelphia, several dozen higher education workers took part in the conversation from six different unions, including HELU member unions the Faculty and Staff Federation of Community College of Philadelphia (FSFCCP), the Temple Association of University Professionals (TAUP), the Temple University Graduate Students’ Association (TUGSA), and AAUP Penn.
On October 22 at Eastern Michigan University (EMU) in Ypsilanti, representatives of more than 10 higher education unions from across the state gathered for the Higher Education Unity Summit, hosted by HELU members EMU Federation of Teachers (EMUFT) and Wayne Academic Union (WAU).
These roadshows were endorsed by delegates at the 2024 HELU Convention at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, NJ.. The purpose of the Roadshows is to bring HELU’s analysis of the crisis in higher education and our vision for transforming the sector into a public good to higher ed workers and allies across the country. The Roadshows are intended to be educational and base-building events in states with HELU member unions. HELU aims to use these events as the starting point for building coalitions of higher education unions to fight for real reforms at the state level while building the infrastructure for national campaigns, as well.
Todd Wolfson, AAUP national president, and Levin Kim, HELU’s Vice Chair, joined Philadelphia higher ed labor leaders in a town hall discussion on fighting for the future of higher education. The conversation with attendees focused on building a Pennsylvania-wide coalition to fight for reinvestment in public colleges and universities while tying resources to labor protections for students and workers. The discussion also focused on the urgency of the 2024 election and the threat of right-wing attacks on colleges and universities.
In Michigan, Mia McIver, HELU’s national chair, joined HELU steering committee members Anke Wolbert (EMUFT) and Sean O’Brien (WAU) in leading the conversation which featured AFT-MI president Terrence Martin, Sr., and Michigan State Representative Samantha Steckloff, herself a former higher ed staff worker and current chair of the state house Appropriations Subcommittee on Higher Education and Community Colleges.
In lively breakout sessions, faculty and staff workers from EMU, Wayne State, University of Michigan Flint and Dearborn campuses, Grand Valley State University, and more discussed the challenges they face on campus – from fresh austerity programs to curricular cuts to job insecurity for adjunct and staff workers and beyond – and the steps they can take collectively to overcome them by building a movement on and across campuses and job categories.
HELU’s Politics and Policy committee looks forward to taking the Roadshows to more states, including Arizona, Minnesota, and California, in the coming months. If you’d like to get involved in this process, reach out to ian@higheredlaborunited.org to check in and get connected.