Education

A letter From Teachers: ‘Who Will Replace Us When We Are Gone?’

February 15, 2023 Peter Baum, The Real News Network. Resist! Baltimore, Education, Maryland, Teachers, Worker Rights and Jobs

From 2020 to 2022, educators faced the unprecedented circumstances of a pandemic, stagnated wages, and the hardships of virtual learning. Rising to meet these challenges put teachers on a strong footing in our ongoing fight for pay that is commensurate with our work. We have done what was asked of us and more, we have accomplished what seemed impossible and continue to work hard to make up for the learning that was lost during the pandemic—and, surely, that is worth the extra money. However, the negotiations between the teachers, Baltimore County, and the Board of Education have been plagued by bad faith, botched rollouts of measures secured in previous bargaining sessions, and confusion to the point that many of our staff simply do not know what they are supposed to make, let alone how valuable they are.

Fordham University’s Resident Assistants Unionize

February 10, 2023 Olivia Wood , Left Voice. Organize! Education, Fordham University, New York (NY), New York City (NYC), Unions, Worker Rights and Jobs

New York City, New York - Last Wednesday, resident assistants (RAs) at the Rose Hill campus of Fordham University announced the formation of their union with OPEIU Local 153. The announcement came just two days after Fordham Faculty United (SEIU Local 200 United), the contingent faculty union on campus, ratified their second contract. The establishment of the Fordham RA union is the latest instance of a new but rapidly growing trend in undergraduate worker organizing on college campuses. OPEIU Local 153 also represents RAs at Barnard College and most office workers at Fordham. Over three-quarters of the bargaining unit signed a union recognition petition that was delivered to Fordham president Tania Tetlow on February 1. The union gave Tetlow until end-of-day February 7 to voluntarily recognize the union, and now it is filing for an NLRB election.

Steward’s Corner: Secrets Of A Successful Flyer

February 10, 2023 Dan Lutz, Labor Notes. Strategize! Education, Flyers, Outreach, Worker Rights and Jobs

It was a snowy morning in 2002, I was a brand-new shop steward in CWA Local 3372 in Lexington, Kentucky, and I had volunteered to hand out the flyers for our contract campaign. I handed out 200 copies, then headed in to my shift at a Verizon 411 call center. When I passed the garbage can, I saw most of my flyers—wadded up and thrown away. In the two decades since, many unions have turned to email, texting, and social media to reach members. That’s a serious mistake. The humble black-and-white workplace flyer is still our most direct way to talk to our co-workers about why the boss is wrong and what we’re going to do to make the situation better. Since that day, I’ve made and distributed hundreds more flyers. Here are some lessons I’ve learned along the way. Your flyer will end up in the trash—so you only have a few moments to get across your most important ideas.

Universities Submit To Neoliberalism And Fascism

February 3, 2023 Anthony Ballas, Truthout. Resist! Censorship, Education, Fascism, Neoliberalism, Unions, Worker Rights and Jobs

We are witnessing the rise of a unique brand of U.S. fascism, which has once again reared its ugly head and has made higher education one of its primary targets. This fascist attack on the university is made possible by the longstanding neoliberal withering of its institutions, which now rely mostly on underpaid contingent workers. The disempowerment of university labor runs hand-in-hand with a right-wing ideological front — rooted in rampant anti-intellectualism and rugged individualism — which seeks to control what knowledge universities can produce and teach. In order to counter this attack on higher education, faculty unions must scale up their organizing efforts against neoliberalism and the rising tide of fascism. It is not surprising that former President Donald Trump accused universities of “radical left indoctrination.”

Temple’s Undergrads Are Taking On The University Bosses

January 31, 2023 Jason Koslowski, Left Voice. Resist! Education, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Temple University, Unions, Worker Rights and Jobs

Coast to coast, the biggest labor struggles happening today are happening at universities. We’ve seen it with grad workers at the University of California and adjuncts at The New School in New York. That movement has spread to Temple University in Philadelphia, too, where I teach. Just a few weeks ago, graduate workers voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike. But it’s not just grad workers who are organizing. Last semester, Temple undergrads formed the Temple University Undergraduate Workers Organizing Committee, or TUUWOC. And TUUWOC is moving aggressively to unionize the thousands of undergrad workers. Temple relies on about 4,100 undergrad workers. They do the kinds of mostly menial tasks that keep the university running from the honors center and student center to the IT offices, residence halls, and beyond.

The Good Work In Urban-Rural

January 31, 2023 John Thackara, Resilience. Create! Education, Food and Agriculture, Self-sufficiency, Sweden

A new course in Sweden poses the question, “what will a self-sufficient Hällefors Municipality taste like in 2030?” Students on the course act like talent scouts. They search for unrealised food-growing potential across the region – people, unused land, forgotten traditions. An example could be a farmer who’s started to grow heritage wheat, but cannot find customers. Or a school teacher who wants to connect his students with a working farm. A student might spot an abandoned field near her home and and explore new ways to grow food there. Another might develop snacks to sell to a mountain bike business in the forest. At the end of each course, students pitch their ideas to real-world professionals – for example, chefs, farmers, or food production businesses.

What Nurses And Teachers Won By Withholding Their ‘Feminized Labor’

January 28, 2023 Amie Stager, Workday Magazine. Resist! Education, Health Care, Labor Movement, Protests, Women's Activism, Worker Rights and Jobs

At the intensive care unit at Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis, nurse Kelley Anaas has cared for a lot of people who have gotten sick with Covid-19 during the pandemic. “I took care of plenty of people who got sick at their work,” said Anaas, who has been a nurse for 14 years and is a steward with the Minnesota Nurses Association (MNA). “I remember taking care of a woman five years older than me, who didn’t make it, who got her job working in a liquor store. Her family’s not gonna get a dime for the sacrifice she made and the choice she didn’t have. I saw the ramifications of that in a much more real way than, you know, lawmakers.” The surge of collective actions by workers in 2022 indicates momentum in the labor movement. Much of this resurgence has been led by workers on the front lines of the pandemic, who have been most at risk when it comes to health and safety.

Johns Hopkins: Grad Student-Workers Mobilize Ahead Of Union Election

January 26, 2023 Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network. Resistance Report Education, Graduate School, Unions, Worker Rights and Jobs

Back in October, TRNN spoke to graduate student-workers at the prestigious Johns Hopkins University about the growing grassroots effort to unionize grad students under the banner of Teachers and Researchers United. Since then, the union drive has continued to build momentum: After a supermajority of grad student-workers signed union cards in October and November, an official date for the union election has now been set. Eligible bargaining unit members will cast their votes on whether or not to unionize and affiliate with the United Electrical, Radio, and Machine Workers (UE) on Monday, Jan. 30, and Tuesday, Jan. 31. This election comes amid a wave of labor actions that are spreading throughout the world of higher education in the US, with recent and current strikes taking place at the University of California, The New School in New York, the University of Illinois at Chicago, and with other graduate student-worker unionization efforts happening at Northwestern University in Evanston, Northeastern University in Boston, and beyond.

Students Are Making Moves To Ditch Their Profiteering Landlords

January 13, 2023 Steve Topple, The Canary. Create! Cooperatives, Education, Housing, United Kingdom (UK)

As student housing reaches crisis point in the UK, one organisation is determined to break the mould – and the grip of rogue landlords – by creating co-operatives to run accommodation. Housing for university students is in chaos. As the Guardian reported, charities are saying it’s the worst crisis since the 1970s. Housing for university students is in chaos. As the Guardian reported, charities are saying it’s the worst crisis since the 1970s. It noted that the company StuRents did research that: suggests there is a shortfall of 207,000 student beds, and 19 towns and cities where there is more than a 10% undersupply of beds, ranging from 28% in Preston and 25% in Bristol to 10% in Birmingham and Swansea. Martin Blakey from the charity Unipol told the Guardian: purpose-built student accommodation has stopped expanding to the extent it was, and we don’t think that’s going to change. At the same time we think there’s a significant decrease in shared houses – [landlords] are moving back to renting to professionals or leaving the market. The reason for the chaos is fairly obvious: government-driven privatisation of the sector.

What Message Does A ‘Vote No’ Campaign Send?

January 7, 2023 Helena Worthen and Joe Berry, Labor Notes. Strategize! California, Education, Labor Movement, Unions, University of California, Worker Rights and Jobs

In December, the contract bargaining team for Auto Workers (UAW) Local 2865 brought back a tentative agreement with the University of California and presented it to its membership of teaching assistants, graders and tutors for ratification. A lively “vote no” campaign arose. A vote no campaign sends a very public message. Does it tell the boss that the union is divided, and therefore weak, or does it warn the boss that members are ready to fight for more? What does it say about the union and the union leadership? When members vote on ratification of a contract, the main issue is trust—whether in the contents of the deal, the process, or both.

In 2022, Art Workers Continued To Unionize And Strike For Their Rights

January 5, 2023 Karen K. Ho, Portside. Organize! Art, Education, Unions, Worker Rights and Jobs

Momentum for unions and unionization efforts in art museums, art institutions, and art schools continued in 2022, as workers bargained for better conditions, held strikes, and even ratified contracts. In the past decade, workers at large institutions like the New Museum, the Guggenheim Museum, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, have formed unions. They’ve often sought higher wages, better job security, and a voice in institutional policies like safety protocols, and have typically joined groups like the Local 2110 Union of Auto Workers (UAW) and local councils of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME). The continued unionization movement now includes non-tenure track arts faculty at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

The Former Foster Youth Sharing Meditation With School Kids

January 3, 2023 Madison Hunt, Next City. Create! Education, Meditation, New York City (NYC), Trauma

New York City, New York - Inside a renovated locker room-turned yoga studio, Harlem elementary school children view pastel-colored walls with butterflies and a ceiling full of twinkling stars. The smell of peppermint infuses the room, and they can hear a softly splashing waterfall. A poster of former President Barack Obama reads, “Our destiny is not written for us, but by us,” and another reminds the school kids: “I am beautiful.” Guiding the fourth graders through a weekly, 50-minute yoga and meditation class is Demetrius Napolitano, who draws on his experience gleaned from a childhood in foster care. “How is your mind, body and heart feeling?” Napolitano asked the students who live in this majority Latino and Black Manhattan community, one of New York City’s most under-resourced.

Boston University Historic Union Win For Graduate Workers

December 26, 2022 Steve Gillis, Workers World. Strategize! Boston, Education, Massachusetts, Unions, Victory, Worker Rights and Jobs

Boston, Massachusetts - Over 3,000 new members of the Boston University Graduate Workers Union (BUGWU), Service Employees (SEIU) Local 509, celebrated a 98.1% NLRB election victory Dec. 7, which was months in the organizing. To punctuate that 2022 has been a wildly successful year of rank-and-file union organizing in the U.S., some labor researchers have characterized the 1,414 to 28 vote as “the most lopsided NLRB election win ever by a bargaining unit [of] more than 1,000 people.” (@dskamper, @gradworkersofBU, Twitter) Speaking at a Dec. 9 Boston rally marking the one-year anniversary of the first victory for Starbucks Workers United, rank-and-file BUGWU organizer Wu Nairan credited “the inspiration and solidarity of [this summer’s 64-day] strike of Boston Starbucks Workers United on the BU campus” with propelling BUGWU’s win.

How Part-Time Faculty Won Their Strike At The New School

December 17, 2022 Miles Hamberg, The Real News Network. Strategize! Education, Labor Movement, New York (NY), New York City (NYC), Strikes, The New School, Unions, Victory

At midnight on Dec. 10, part-time faculty at The New School and Parsons School of Design officially suspended their strike after a nearly seven-hour-long mediation session with the university administration ended with a tentative agreement (TA). The union’s bargaining committee, which is composed entirely of part-time faculty at The New School, unanimously chose to suspend the strike while they prepare to hold a ratification vote. Alex Robins, a union staff member and part-time instructor teaching at Parsons School of Design, told TRNN that approximately 300 (exhausted) part-time faculty members attended the final mediation session via Zoom. “The mood was absolutely ebullient,” he said. “I breathed for the first time in a month. They came into negotiations seemingly aiming to break the union.

UC Graduate Students’ Bargaining Committee Drops Core Demands

December 17, 2022 Indigo Olivier, In These Times. Resist! California, Education, Strikes, University of California, Worker Rights and Jobs

Academic workers at the University of California (UC), who are entering their second month on the picket line, are internally weighing strategic questions about how their union should move forward with negotiations. Roughly 36,000 graduate teaching and research workers, represented by two different United Auto Workers (UAW) locals, remain on strike after a third UAW local representing 11,000 UC postdocs signed a five-year contract with the university and returned to work December 9. UAW Local 2865 is the largest of the UC unions on strike. It represents some of the university’s lowest-paid workers—about 19,000 teaching assistants, tutors and readers, some of whom make an estimated $24,000 a year.

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