This week’s Point was written by Jeff Melnick, Professor of American Studies and former FSU VP. As always, The Point represents the views of the authors and is not the official position of the FSU.
I was lucky enough to spend a bunch of time in Central Park last weekend and each day I was there I got out for a run around the reservoir. In the days I was there, the trees ringing the water went from more or less bare to full bloom. The seemingly sudden riot of color was at once its own reward—how many shades of pink are there anyway?—and a timely invitation to think about how much hidden and underground work goes into a “spontaneous” flowering like this. So in the spirit of the trees, I thought it might be a good moment to offer up a summary of some recent victories in the arena of higher ed labor politics and more general activism. I do not intend to brightside anyone—the daunting realities of war and genocide and the dismantling of our most crucial institutions (including higher ed ones—sad news just breaking at Hampshire College) shadow all our steps. But times like these demand a purposeful recommitment to optimism of the will. So, a few inspiring developments to keep you engaged and energized—since I opened with Central Park, I’ll get this started with two New York stories.
***Just over a month ago, contract faculty at New York University voted overwhelmingly to form a union. This historic vote means that the new local (affiliated with the UAW) is now the largest union of non-tenure track faculty at any private university in the United States. It took years to get to a vote and the tireless work by organizers at NYU reminds us that it is the daily stuff—the hallway conversations with colleagues, the caucus meetings, the direct action events—that helps us build to the big moments of victory like this.
*** In the category of “thank goodness we have a union,” faculty colleagues at the University of Illinois-Springfield went one step further by going on strike – now for two weeks – because the university administration was not bargaining with the union in good faith and had to the gall to offer raises of only 1%, in effect delivering faculty a pay cut. Fortunately, public employees in Illinois have the legal right to strike, something the MTA has been trying to win for us in Massachusetts. The FSU stands with our colleagues in UPI Local 4100! You can send a letter of support for Local 4100 to UIS Chancellor Janet Gooch here, and donate to their strike fund here.
***Our own Steve Striffler has written about the many tentacles of the “Palestine Exception” to free speech and campus organizing around the country—and even here on our own campus. So it was gratifying recently to see that a New York State Supreme Court justice reversed the “expulsions, suspensions, and degree revocations” of students involved in pro-Palestine campus activism at Columbia University. In the Columbia case it was especially noteworthy that the president of Student Workers of Columbia-United Auto Workers (the graduate student/worker union) was one of those targeted by the administration and expelled for his political activity. While there is still plenty of clampdown to fight against, for now it seems possible that we are at an important moment of redress and rebalancing after a long season of authoritarian suppression of campus speech.
***Just last week, non-tenure track faculty teaching in Maryland’s four-year public universities finally won the right to bargain collectively. After years of lobbying and grassroots organizing, these faculty members saw passage of passage of Senate Bill 6/House Bill 106 which grants them the right to bargain. In a moment when contingent faculty across the country have become increasingly vulnerable, this is a truly historic expansion of collective bargaining rights to thousands of employees and a major victory that will likely lead to better pay, greater job security, and many other workplace improvements. It took years and it was worth it.
***Turning back to New York, we are also very excited to report that three of the four fired at CUNY’s Brooklyn College—all punished for campus activism related to Palestine—have been reinstated. The PSC-CUNY is a remarkably progressive, activist union and has done stalwart work on behalf of its targeted vulnerable members. The union has vowed to keep fighting on behalf of the final one of the four, and we urge you to have a look at the union’s website for ideas of how we can all support the effort.
***And speaking of reinstatement. It was deeply heartening to see our students take the initiative and commit to direct and collective action in response to the shameful administrative firing of our wonderful colleague Professor Keith Jones. The news story here captures only a sliver of the work they have done in support of Keith, and this flowering of student activism on our campus is testament both to that commitment and to the deep connection Keith has forged with his students.
The committee for this year’s The Point currently includes Jessica Holden, Healey Library; Nick Juravich, History; Jeff Melnick, American Studies; and Steve Striffler, Labor Studies. If you want to write an edition of The Point, or if you just have an idea, please write us at fsu@umb.edu