HELU Blog

From Helena Worthen, National Writers Union, HELU Media/Comms committee Many small local organizations of higher ed workers have tiny (or deficit) discretionary budgets. HELU needs these locals because local campuses are where labor has real traction, but HELU also needs to pay our staff, our internet and zoom bills, and so on. Conversely, small locals […]

From Trevor Griffey, Vice President of Legislation, UC-AFT 1474 The longer that the UC system maintains a hard line against unions at the bargaining table, the more likely it is that a majority of UC’s unionized workforce will be out of contract by the end of the 2025-26 school year. This may create a unique

From Sean O’Brien, HELU Steering Committee and member of Wayne Academic Union #6075 EWOC, the Emergency Workplace Organizing Committee, held its first conference at Wayne State University with co-hosts Labor@Wayne on June 28 and 29. The Unite & Win conference started with an opening reception on the evening of June 27 in the Reuther Library,

From Kent Wong, teacher of Labor Studies and Ethnic Studies at the UCLA Labor Center, Vice-President of the California Federation of Teachers and member of HELU member union AFT 1474 On July 10, 2025, 1,443 people gathered at the Los Angeles Convention Center for the largest nonviolence training in the history of the city, and

In Florida, where Governor Ron DeSantis was carrying out Trump-style attacks on higher education before the 2024 election, the United Faculty of Florida, a statewide union, gathered organizers from various chapters and joined with other unions to hold a Worker’s Forum in Miami Springs, facilitated by the Miami-Dade DSA. – Editor From Chris Robé, Professor

One appallingly cruel tactic of the Trump administration is the harassment, bullying and actual kidnapping of international students. The following was a presentation for HELU activists who want to know what they can do to protect international students at their colleges and universities. It was a zoom meeting in April 2025. – Editor From T.

Metro organizing, where we organize everyone working in higher ed as a geographic unit, like a commute range, lends itself to social events. Boston organizers have started a HELU sponsored metro organizing meet-up. – Editor From Anne Balay, SEIU Local 509 and HELU Delegate from National Writers Union Contingent academic workers from across Boston had

Where are the pressure points? Students explain why and how they accept the open invitation of the Arizona Board of Regents and show up to speak at meetings. – Editor From Hypatia Meraviglia and Marcos Esparza, members of United Campus Workers AZ 7065 and graduate students at Arizona State University (ASU) and the University of

The unique situation of California part-timers embraces the work lives of around 40,000 community college faculty. California and its higher ed systems (the community colleges, state universities and the University of California system) are so big that it often behaves as if it is its own country. Many California faculty take what happens in California