Throughout June, we connected with hundreds of HELU member unions, leaders, delegates, at-large members, and fellow workers across the broader higher ed labor movement. At Labor Notes in Chicago, it was incredibly energizing to spend time in person identifying shared concerns, discussing coordinated strategies, and gearing up for federal fights necessary to rewrite the future […]
June 2026 HELU Chair’s Message Read More »
by Scott Douglas In early 2026, the Long Beach Community College District in Long Beach, California, agreed to an approximately $18 million settlement in a class-action wage-and-hour lawsuit brought by adjunct faculty. The case was backed by the California Teachers Association, which retained outside plaintiff-side employment counsel to litigate the claims. The significance of this
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
May 2026 HELU Chair’s Message Read More »
By Geoff Johnson, At Large member of HELU and President of the AFT Adjunct/Contingent Caucus At the AFT National Convention in Washington, DC on July 16-19, 2026, the Adjunct/Contingent Caucus will present a resolution calling for AFT to create model language and legislation for Due Process rights for Contingent faculty. This resolution is backed by
Due Process Resolution for Contingents at AFT Convention Read More »
Helena Worthen with Lauren Lassabe Shepherd, HELU individual member, historian of American colleges and universities, author of Resistance from the Right: Conservatives and the Campus Wars in Modern America (University of North Carolina Press, 2023), Inventing the Liberal University (University of Chicago Press, forthcoming), and co-editor of Degrees of Liberation (SUNY Press, forthcoming). Listen to
How the Crackdown on the Encampments Revealed Higher Ed’s MAGA Consensus Read More »
The United Faculty of Florida (UFF) is a statewide union representing close to 10,000 public higher education workers in Florida. UFF has chapters in all public universities (12 in total). We have 16 chapters in the state college system and 4 graduate student chapters. UFF represents mostly instructional faculty and instructional support faculty. HELU asks: In
by Jenna Chernega, HELU Vice Chair and Chair of the HELU Politics & Policy Committee The Politics and Policy (P&P) committee is fairly large. I would guess that there are well over 20 people on the google groups list. Basically, we let anyone in who expresses interest in joining the committee, either when they join HELU
How the Politics and Policy Committee Works Read More »
by Helena Worthen, based on an interview with Thomas Gokey, Organizer for Debt Collective, a HELU member labor organization, and active with the HELU Policyand Politics Committee HELU’s basic idea of centering the hoped-for transformation of the higher ed sector around labor means confronting opposition on multiple levels. One level is obviously collective bargaining, where
Current Politics and Policy Committee Projects Read More »
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
April 2026 HELU Chair’s Message Read More »
By Carolyn Kube, Chair of HELU Outreach Committee, Steering Committee member for Healthcare Workers and Delegate from UUP. HELU organizes local unions and labor organizations, not individual people, although individuals can join. This makes HELU organizing different from organizing people into a local union. The idea behind HELU is that by drawing the local unions
How HELU Organizes Read More »