HELU in the News

A coalition of labor unions representing faculty and other higher education workers called for free college and more Thursday—the same day House Republicans passed their reconciliation bill, which would cut Pell Grants and target postsecondary education in other ways. The federal policy agenda is from Higher Ed Labor United (HELU), which seeks to unify all […]

College and university faculty, staff, researchers, and students are fed up. And for good reason: high-handed administrative and government attacks on curriculum, faculty governance, and tenure; the recent revocation of more than 1,700 previously authorized visas—hundreds of which have been restored—issued to international scholars and students; complicity between university policymakers and Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE); and restrictions on how race, gender,

Faculty-student pairs set up “anti-fascist office hours” at three locations on the Northwestern University campus. Faculty, students, and staff created anti-fascist art at the University of Hawaii. American Association of University Professors members combined membership drives with tabling about the critical issues facing higher education on 30 campuses. And in New York City, 4,000 people

About 150 protesters rallied at Columbia, which had been the scene of huge pro-Palestinian protests last year. They gathered on a plaza outside a building that houses federal offices, holding signs emblazoned with slogans including “stop the war on universities” and “censorship is the weapon of fascists.” The protests were organized by the Coalition for

Sean O’Brien, a Wayne State University academic services advisor and member of the Higher Education Labor United steering committee, said he believed the problems facing higher education were so large that only a nationwide union of workers in all sectors would be able to exert sufficient force against the federal government. One strategy he promoted was for

With universities across the U.S. facing attacks from the Trump administration that “have been compared to the worst of McCarthyism,” as one professor said, students, staff, and faculty on more than 150 college campuses are planning to participate in a National Day of Action for Higher Education on Thursday. “What is at stake is the

On April 8, 2025, the Labor for Higher Education Union hosted the Kill the Cuts. This protest was to bring attention to the federal funding cuts that are being made and their impact on scientific research. During an interview with Shun Kobayashi, an associate instructor in the Comparative Literature and Languages Department, he explained that

Demonstrators took to Raleigh’s Moore Square Tuesday to protest the Trump administration’s proposed cuts to research, health care and education funding. The event, which took place from 3 to 6 p.m., was one of several nationwide “Kill the Cuts” rallies on the Higher Ed Labor United national day of action. Demonstrations occurred in over 30 cities across

“The Philadelphia demonstration was part of the second “Nationwide Day of Action” — organized by Labor for Higher Education and Higher Education Labor United. The event served as the continuation of an initial day of protests in February. “ Read more at The Daily Pennsylvanian.

Organizers are calling on everyone to join the movement. For instance, Higher Education Labor United has organized actions across the U.S. for April 8, demanding no cuts to education and life-saving research. The Coalition for Action in Higher Ed (CAHE), the organizing collective behind the April 17 Day of Action, has arranged an entire day of virtual events for people