National Center for the Study of Collective Bargaining in Higher Education and the Professions Event

Register Now for Long Beach Regional Conference on December 1-2, 2017
Online registration has commenced for the National Center’s labor-management conference at California State University, Long Beach on December 1-2, 2017.  The conference will include panels on important issues facing faculty, staff, and administrators in higher education.  Click here for the prelimnary conference schedule/program.

Currently confirmed conference co-sponsors are: California State University, California Faculty Association, Community College League of California, SEIU and the University of Oregon with additional support from the Community College Association.

For more information about the regional conference email the National Center or call us at (212) 481-7662.
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Conference on Collective Bargaining and
Labor Relations in Higher Education
 
California State University, Long Beach
December 1-2, 2017
 
Register Now
 
The National Center for the Study of Collective Bargaining in Higher Education and the Professions encourages you to register for an exciting conference scheduled for December 1-2, 2017 at CSU, Long Beach. 
 
The preliminary schedule includes a complete list of panels and presenters.
 
Featured Presentations:
 
●   Plenary: The Impact of Immigration Enforcement
 
●   Adjunct Faculty Unionization and Negotiations
 
●   Higher Ed Funding: Strategies and Challenges
 
●   Agency Fees: Janus v. AFSCME
 
●   Discipline: How to Investigate, Present, and Defend
 
●   Closing Plenary: Where Do We Go From Here?

Did you know that an upcoming US Supreme Court case could have a profound impact on the rights of faculty and all Americans to work together for our rights to free expression and safe, just workplaces? The case is part of a broad effort to weaken the voice of working men and women joined in unions. The AAUP is fighting these attacks.

Several court cases and legislative initiatives being pursued across the country aim to weaken the rights of working people, erode and privatize our public institutions, and further exacerbate the power imbalances in our economy. In particular, a ruling in the case Janus v. AFSCME Council 31, to be heard by the US Supreme Court this term, could result in workers in the public sector, including academics who are joined in unions, losing the right to collect contributions from all who are represented.

This would ultimately harm people working in higher education, our students, and our campuses. Standing together makes it possible to negotiate safe workplaces, reasonable teaching loads, a fair return on work, and the ability to retire with dignity. Faculty and academic professionals in unions defend academic freedom, standards in public higher education, shared governance, and due process protections.

The case is an attempt by powerful corporate interests to damage the public sector. We plan to submit an amicus brief in this case.

Here’s what you can do on the local level:

Stay informed. Stay engaged. Continue advocating for your campus community, your students, and higher education as a public good. Help organize your fellow faculty members to exercise a voice on campus. Together we are stronger.

Regardless of the outcome of this case, challenges to our profession, higher education and our collective voice will continue. It’s more important than ever that we stand together. Our collective action makes it possible to defend the very best values of higher education. Thanks for being a part of it.

Julie Schmid
Executive Director, AAUP

P.S. A great way to support the continued legal work of the AAUP is to donate to the AAUP Foundation's Legal Defense Fund. Click here to donate.

After last November’s election, we expressed our concern about unique threats posed by the new administration to core institutions of our democracy and to academic freedom. In the months since, we have seen these threats begin to unfold.

Faculty members are being targeted and harassed, the freedom to join together on the job is in jeopardy, and producers of independent thought and knowledge, including faculty, scientists, and journalists, are threatened. The academic year has begun with a spate of racist incidents on campus, another travel ban aimed primarily at Muslims, the decision to end the DACA program that grants residency to many of our students, and, just last Thursday, a decision by the Supreme Court to take up a case that could strip workers in unions of rights.
We believe that democracy thrives on dissent, critical inquiry, free speech, and free research. And that means that we must do more than witness these events; we must resist them.

That’s why we invite you to check out our One Faculty, One Resistance campaign.

The AAUP is the voice of the profession. As such, we've been speaking up for academic freedom for more than 100 years. And in these troubled times, we’re doing it with renewed urgency and vigor.

We’ve created a central space for our campaigns and materials related to these threats-- materials to help you fight against targeted harassment of faculty and for the right to teach and conduct research freely, and to resist political interference and litmus tests in higher education.

Take a look around and share news of the campaign! A powerful resistance requires collective action and voice. Click here to share.

We’ll be in touch soon.

Rudy Fichtenbaum
President, AAUP