Higher Ed Labor Report: Uniting Across Job Categories in MA, NM, LA, PA & More

From Levin Kim, HELU Chair and member of UAW 4121:

I’m looking forward to connecting with many HELU delegates and members this Saturday in Chicago at our “Against the AI Campus: Building Power in Higher Ed” event! Attendees will strategize contract language to safeguard against specific impacts of AI on our working conditions, learn from organizers who have led legislative campaigns to curb the tech sector’s outsized influence on our campuses, and discuss sectoral organizing strategies to increase public investment in higher ed. You can read more about the issues we’ll be discussing this weekend in Brendan McGovern’s article on UUP’s new contract with the State of New York.

Learn more about current fights and wins that higher ed workers have been leading – including grad workers and property service workers coming together in Massachusetts as they fight for contracts workers deserve; non-tenure-track faculty winning a first contract in Louisiana; the HELU-New Mexico coalition’s wall-to-wall organizing for better healthcare premium splits; and higher ed workers from across Pennsylvania gather at the state capitol in Harrisburg for college affordability.

On the afternoon of May 1, 2026, a group of Tulane faculty, staff, and affiliates gathered in the pouring rain on Poydras Street in downtown New Orleans, eagerly awaiting the outcome of negotiations that had been ongoing since the fall of 2024. When a representative emerged, they finally heard an announcement that many had never believed possible: the university administration agreed to the terms of a contract with Tulane Workers United, the first union to ever represent higher education faculty in the state of Louisiana.

November 7 | Morehouse College | Atlanta, GA

Building HBCU Worker Power: HBCU Organizing & Leadership Gathering

This November, HBCU faculty, staff, union members, and organizers will come together over two days in Atlanta to strengthen connections, share organizing strategies, and build toward a lasting HBCU worker network. Register here.

November 17 | Online | 8pm ET/7pm CT/6pm MT/5pm PT

Before or Without a Contract: Building Organized Power on Campus

Pre-contract, pre-majority, direct join, advocacy chapter, or one of many other titles for a union without a contract – we’re all in this together. We’ll be joined by talented organizers who will tell us about their experiences, then we’ll break out into groups to talk about our own. What do we have in common? What can we learn from each other? What can we do together? We’ll come up with action items and collaborative next steps. Register here.

• Support UT Martin professor Johnnie LaDue, fired for using the restroom
• Support transformational learning: Lower Western Carolina University class sizes
• Solidarity with UE Local 256 – MIT GSU and SEIU 32BJ
• 600 days is long enough. Fair Contract at NMSU Now!
• Join the University of California Student Workers Union to Raise the Minimum Wage
• CALL TO ACTION: Comment On ACGME’s Proposed Changes
• Tell the University of Washington: Get back to the bargaining table
• Stand with Santa Clara University Teaching Faculty for Academic Justice
• Tell Bellevue College Leaders: Support Faculty to Support Students
• TAKE ACTION: Stop Attacks on International Scholars and the OPT Program
• Sign: UIC United Faculty – Contract Now!

We invite you to support HELU’s work by making a direct financial contribution. While HELU’s main source of income is solidarity pledges from member organizations, these funds from individuals help us to grow capacity as we work to align the higher ed labor movement.