From Levin Kim, HELU Chair and member of UAW 4121:
What’s next?
In the months leading up to May Day, higher ed workers from coast to coast built power around a simple but powerful set of demands to assert a worker-centered vision for higher ed. More importantly, workers, students, and alumni on campuses and metro areas used May Day actions to launch, develop, and strengthen coalitions – building the coordination structures necessary to take on shared fights at the campus, metro, state, and federal levels.
From major metro areas with a high density of unionized workers such as NYC and Chicago to college towns and campuses from coast to coast, higher ed workers led 60+ actions this May Day – setting an example for what sectoral coordination could look like in our growing labor movement. The energy generated through these actions had a direct impact on several higher ed union campaigns and work actions.
A few key highlights:
- Striking workers at the University of Illinois Chicago and Loyola University Chicago were joined on the picket lines by higher ed workers from across Chicagoland.
- Just outside Washington, DC, workers at George Mason University launched a new union campaign with United Campus Workers of Virginia at a rally with support from DC, Maryland. And Virginia higher ed workers.
- In Minneapolis, higher ed workers joined Unite HERE Local 17 on the picket line – successfully generating enough pressure to get The Normandy’s management back to the bargaining table after they had been stalling.
While this is a meaningful progress towards cohering a national movement to realize a progressive vision for higher ed, we also know that there is much more work to be done. As we look towards the summer and beyond – how will we channel the collective energy we have built through this year’s May Day actions into building concrete power to take on bigger fights?
There are nearly 1 million (and growing) unionized higher ed workers across the US. Imagine the world we could win if each and every one of us knows the stakes of this current political moment and is prepared to take action to ensure that higher ed that truly works for – and is led by – the workers, students, and communities. Amidst the chaos of this moment, we – as higher ed workers – also have a unique opportunity and responsibility to forge realignments and bring forth a unified national movement with the capacity to rewrite the long-standing logics of austerity and contingency that have shaped our working conditions for far too long.
This May Day is just the beginning. We are excited to welcome the following union locals that have voted to join HELU by endorsing the Vision Statement since the last HELU General Assembly in February:
- Union of Rutgers Administrators URA-AFT Local 1766
- Western Oregon University Federation of Teachers (WOUFT-AFT Local 2278)
- University of Maine Graduate Workers Union (UMGWU-UAW)
- United Steelworkers Local Union 1511 – Union of Pitt Faculty
- Massachusetts State College Association (MSCA)
- Professional Staff Congress (PSC CUNY)
- Massachusetts Society of Professors U-Mass Lowell (MSP-MTA-NEA)
- Western New Mexico Faculty University (WNMU) Faculty-NEA
If you are a delegate, register for the May GA now (you should have received a link in your email, if you haven’t please contact admin@higheredlaborunited.org) to join us in welcoming these new locals and to strategize about what’s next.
Finally, let us know if you (or anyone else from your union) will be at Labor Notes next month! HELU will be hosting a Higher Ed Happy Hour on Friday, June 12 at 7pm at Crust Brewing near the Labor Notes Convention. RSVP below, and get in touch with any questions.