HELU Articles
November 2024 HELU Chair’s Message
From Mia McIver, HELU Chair, UC-AFT Local 1474 Dear HELU Members and Friends, During our November 2024 General Assembly meeting, HELU delegates from around the country took stock of our current situation. Higher ed staff, student workers, contingent faculty, and tenure-line faculty from public and private institutions, from community colleges, state schools, and research universities,…
University of South Florida service workers transferred to private company
From Katie Rainwater, Cynthia Patterson, Leon Hardy, and Maureen McCormick of United Faculty of Florida. On November 1, 2024, the Tampa Bay Creative Loafing reported some 400 services workers at University of South Florida (USF) would be transferred to the Compass Group, a giant corporate “family” of foodservice and facilities service companies. Under this transfer,…
No More Lecturers at UC Berkeley?
Katie Rodgers, PhD. Lecturer at UC Davis, is President of UC-AFT. UC Berkeley administration has called for a hiring freeze for lecturers for the 2025-26 school year. These teaching faculty are represented by UC-AFT and teach 30-40% of the credit hours across the University of California. Union members are organizing against these detrimental prospective cuts.…
The March in March: California 2025 pushback against higher ed cuts
From Geoff Johnson, Part-time Faculty Rep California Community College Council (CFT) and CTA/CCA Part-time Faculty Issues Committee Chair For those outside California, know that the pushback on cuts to higher ed is happening. A mass rally and march, the March in March, will be taking place on March 4th, 2025 in Sacramento. The march will…
Celebrating the Transformative Success of Minnesota’s North Star Promise Program
Jenna Chernega, Ph.D, President of Inter Faculty Organization (IFO), Winona State University Thanks to Minnesota’s new North Star Promise program, enrollment in public and tribal higher education is increasing for the first time in over a decade. This initiative, which the Inter Faculty Organization (IFO) and other unions organized hard to win, was implemented in…
The Case for Campus Labor Councils: Strengthening Our Voice Against Challenges
From Brendan McGovern – President, United University Professions, Binghamton Campus Labor Council meets at Binghamton University with NY State Senator Lea Webb to discuss our Living Wage Campaign. From left to right, CSEA Executive Vice President Jeff Zepkowski, Senator Lea Webb, UUP Binghamton Chapter President Brendan McGovern, GSEA President Camille Gagnier. As we prepare for…