HELU Articles
September 2026 HELU Chair’s Message
From Levin Kim, HELU Chair and member of UAW 4121: Precarity continues to persist as an increasingly permanent feature of higher ed institutions. Postdocs across the sector are organizing to change that. Hugo Plombat is one of 1,500 Postdocs at the University of Michigan (UM-PRO) currently fighting for a first contract that includes a fair…
Postdoc Unions are Essential for High-Quality University Research
A response to Evan D. Morris, “Postdocs Aren’t Burger Flippers: Why Unionization Is a Bad Idea” in Inside Higher Ed. By Hugo Plombat I am a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Earth & Environmental Sciences at the University of Michigan (UM), where I study climate science and oceanography. I am also an international researcher from France…
How HELU’s Michigan Senate Candidate Town Hall engaged union members ahead of Michigan’s primaries
By Sean O’Brien, Wayne Academic Union (WAU AFT-AAUP Local #6075) Higher ed unions were activated after HELU’s Michigan Senate Candidate Town Hall. After personally interacting with several candidates, each of whom presented a clear vision for higher education and labor, local unions wanted to get involved. Wayne Academic Union was not alone in this. It…
I am not a Machine: Unions Don’t Corrupt Mentorship, Exploitation Does.
A response to Evan D. Morris, “Postdocs Aren’t Burger Flippers: Why Unionization Is a Bad Idea” in Inside Higher Ed. by Tessa Barber, M.A. I am a graduate student. I am an employee of my university. One of those identities does not supersede the other. Instead, they live in tandem. My institution expects me to…
Filling the Cracks in Higher Ed: Why Union Membership is Crucial for Postdocs
Unionization mends the pitfalls of temporary employment that can bring a student or faculty member’s untenured progress to a halt. Written and edited by Katya Incle, Allison Brown, and Jamie Dietrich, members of United Campus Workers of Arizona – CWA Local 7065 A response to Evan D. Morris, “Postdocs Aren’t Burger Flippers: Why Unionization Is…
At USW Pitt, workers are organizing, bargaining new contracts, and building connections
By Caro Pirri – Steward, United Steelworkers Local 1511. Associate Professor of English, University of Pittsburgh. Member, HELU Media and Comms Committee On August 14th, I sat down with Jen Goeckeler-Fried, Chair of the Bargaining Committee for the staff union at Pitt, to talk about her experience with bargaining. We met during a United Steelworkers…