Walking the Line

Adjunct Faculty at the New School are still on strike, and the largest higher education strike in U.S. history is ongoing in California. #UAWonStrike

Like many of you, I spent the long weekend doing family stuff. In the back of my mind, I knew there were major job actions happening in the world of academic labor, but I had to prioritize kids and aging parents and a bit of self-care, as they say nowadays.

Now, it’s Monday, and before I go to class, I’m going to walk the line.

I wish I had the chance to see the epic statewide pickets happening in the University of California system, but at least I can share in the power of their social media presence—like the photo (above) of the Stanford marching band spelling out UAW that Rafael Jaime, President of UAW Local 2865 posted a few days back.

The UC system is where grad employees first organized with UAW, around the same time that we were organizing at NYU and Columbia in the early 2000s. Public universities like U Wisconsin and U Michigan had had grad employee unions since the late 1960s, but they were mostly organized with AFT.

One reason that grad workers at NYU and Columbia chose to organize with UAW was the focus on organizing and collective action. That focus has been ongoing for the 22 years since UC, NYU, and CU academic workers organized their unions. And that long-game, hard-core organizing work has resulted in the strong actions we’re seeing now.

Since I’m not on the west coast, I’ll be joining the Adjunct Faculty at the New School, ACT-UAW Local 7902. They’re still out and encouraging members to VOTE NO on a proposal they say will do more harm than good.

If you want more information on the issues around either action, you can find more on the UC strike here and the New School strike here. I’ll write more another day because today, I’m gonna grab my sign and walk the line.