From Emily Steinlight, Delegate to HELU from AAUP/Penn and member HELU Steering Committee
On Thursday, March 20th, members of the six unions and labor organizations in the Penn campus Coalition of Workers at Penn rallied to present a joint petition against Penn’s anticipatory compliance with executive orders that threaten us all. Members of AAUP-Penn, GETUP-UAW, CIR-SEIU, Penn Libraries United / AFSCME Local 590, RAPUP-UAW, and Penn Museum Workers United / Philly Cultural Workers United – AFSCME Local 397 made shared demands in four essential areas, calling on Penn to uphold sanctuary and the rights of international employees and students, LGBTQ rights, DEIA and nondiscrimination, and research and jobs.
More than 1,000 Penn employees from across the university and the healthcare system signed this petition. The rally took place at 34th & Walnut St in Philadelphia from 12-1pm. There were speakers from multiple categories of workers affected by these policies, including librarians, clinicians, faculty, museum workers, graduate student workers, postdoctoral researchers, and more, as well as a few elected officials who spoke in solidarity and marched with a delegation to College Hall as Penn employees issue these demands.
