The news is coming fast and furious these days, and it’s hard to keep track of the mounting attacks on higher education, whether they’re coming from Washington or the 12th floor of Bobst. But it can also be tough to keep track of all the ways we have to fight back. With our union, we are fighting back: at the bargaining table, in the courts, and on the streets. Here’s a series of actions you can take now to defend free universities, protect our most vulnerable students and colleagues, and fight for the strong first contract we need and deserve.
A Majority Defends Our Profession
Last week, our elected Bargaining Committee showed the administration’s team they’re not just talking to our eleven representatives — rather, we’re standing with them for the bedrock right of faculty to research, teach, and participate in society according to our conscience and expertise, without being subject to the whims of administrators, donors, and politicians. At last Monday’s bargaining session, the BC presented a thick sheaf of paper to the administration: thirty pages of the names of the majority of colleagues who are standing up to demand a contract that guarantees our academic freedom.
To further demonstrate our collective commitment, our Bargaining Committee showed the administration’s negotiators a video of eleven colleagues explaining what academic freedom means to them and why a majority of us have publicly signed up to defend it.
Help us show the administration that we all stand behind our Bargaining Committee by attending one or both of this spring’s remaining scheduled bargaining sessions. RSVP and commit to observing bargaining on April 18 and/or May 2, in person or on Zoom.
Defending Our Most Vulnerable
There’s no true academic freedom if some of us are more vulnerable than others. That’s why at the bargaining table we’re demanding protections against harassment and discrimination, privacy safeguards, and a path to permanent residency for international faculty. We know that this is a scary time for all our non-citizen colleagues. UAW has established a hotline to refer members facing an immigration emergency to legal resources. If you are experiencing an unexpected change in your immigration status or any other immigration-related emergency, you can call 888-416-2110 to be connected with a lawyer.
Show Up To Defend Academia
Last week, our union (UAW) joined the American Public Health Association, Ibis Reproductive Health, and the ACLU to challenge the Trump administration’s attacks on biomedical and public health research and peer review, filing suit in federal court to block NIH from terminating grants. If you or a trainee of yours have had a MOSAIC K99/R00, F31, F32, Kirchstein NRSA, T32, FIRST, Bridge to the Doctorate, or PREP grant terminated, you too can be involved — please respond to this email and let us know.
But the fight for public research funding, peer review, and the integrity of our institutions won’t just happen in the courts. Tomorrow we’ll join unionized colleagues around the city and around the country to say Kill the Cuts: No Cuts! No Layoffs! No Political Repression! Join us and our siblings from across the city on the New York Public Library steps in Bryant Park at 5pm on Tuesday, April 8.
If you can’t make it tomorrow, it’s not your last chance. On April 17, we’ll stand with our UAW, AAUP, and AFT siblings across the city to again Rally for the Right to Learn. Mark your calendar for 4pm on April 17.
Keep Up With Bargaining
No matter what happens in the courts or in Washington, with a union we can defend ourselves, our students, and our profession. That’s because we’re stronger when we stand together. On April 22 at 7 p.m., join us at a CFU Town Hall on Zoom to hear about the state of bargaining. In the meantime, attend a bargaining session — and bring a colleague!
In solidarity,
Contract Faculty United – UAW Organizing Committee