From Levin Kim, HELU Chair and member of UAW 4121:
This May Day, thousands of higher ed workers, students, alumni, and community members from coast to coast are taking to the streets. Will you be a part of the growing movement? Learn more and register for a May Day action near you. Additionally, hear from Sen. Bernie Sanders along with students and workers taking action on May Day on our “Students and Workers Rise Up on May Day” Mass Call, tomorrow (Wednesday, April 22) at 8pm ET/7pm CT/6pm MT/5pm PT.
We are coming together to rewrite the future of our sector. By building a sector-wide movement with the power necessary to reorient higher ed towards the public good it must be, we have a unique opportunity in this moment to shift the balance of power away from the billionaire class and towards a more equitable, just, and sustainable future for all.
As workers in one of the fastest growing sectors of the labor movement, we know how to take on big fights – and win. We know how to translate the power of 1-to-1 organizing into collective power that we can wield at the bargaining table and at the ballot box. We know that by coming together across the divisions that are imposed upon us, we can raise the floor for all workers and set the groundwork for a worker-centered future.
This month, we officially launched the Amherst Compact, a shared bargaining platform across higher ed unions across the 9 states of the Northeast. With major unions across these states representing more than 500,000 workers heading into bargaining, the Amherst Compact is one way that higher ed workers are leveraging the power of our individual campus-level fights to set a new standard for what is possible to win across our sector. Any union representing higher ed workers across Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania are encouraged to sign on to the Amherst Compact and get involved in the ongoing organizing.
May Day is just the beginning. See you in the streets – and on tomorrow’s call with Bernie Sanders, which I will be facilitating!