Higher education unions release Statement of Unity for the Future of Higher Education
On September 16, eleven union organizations representing hundreds of thousands of faculty and staff at colleges and universities across the country presented a vision of higher education for the public good, calling on the Harris-Walz ticket to join them in creating the policy changes necessary to attain it.
At the Philadelphia event, the organizations, which included the AFT, released the Statement of Unity for the Future of Higher Education. The statement called for full federal funding for public higher education, expanding access, and sustainable working conditions for faculty and staff.
CFT Universities Council President Mia McIver (pictured above) was amongst those in attendance. Speaking from her position as the Chair of Higher Education Labor United (HELU), Mia stressed that the assembled organizations were speaking with one unified voice to stand up for college education, for university research, for good jobs, and for opportunity for all.
“Today our movement is taking action. College in this country should be something that everyone has access to and everyone benefits from,” said McIver. “That’s why higher ed workers across this country are fighting back against the big money interests and corporate takeovers that are hollowing out our colleges and universities.”
For more on the event, check out this write up from AFT. You can also watch a great video from the press conference here.
Repeal of WEP/GPO takes significant step forward in the House of Representatives
After years of advocacy and organizing, legislation to repeal the Windfall Elimination Provision and the Government Pension Offset is nearing the finish line in the House of Representatives. H.R. 82, also known as the Social Security Fairness Act, has gained enough supporters in the House to force a vote on the legislation likely in mid-November.
If ultimately signed into law, the Social Security Fairness Act would eliminate both WEP and GPO, which reduce and sometimes fully eliminate hard earned benefits of federal and public sector workers, including CFT members in CalSTRS.
“This is a huge deal for hard-working CFT members who are being or have been unfairly penalized and deeply hurt financially,” says CFT President Jeff Freitas. “We will continue to organize and pressure our elected leaders in Congress to vote yes when the time comes this fall.”
Join the AFT for a virtual VP debate watch party on Tuesday
On Tuesday at 5:15 p.m., join AFT for a virtual watch party to see the first and only vice presidential debate between former AFT member, Governor Tim Walz and Senator JD Vance. Join fellow AFT union members, passionate volunteers, and dedicated activists to come together, discuss, and engage in real-time as we watch the candidates go head-to-head on the issues that matter most.
News in Brief
National study shows teachers earn 73.4 cents for every dollar similar professionals make – A new report written by Sylvia Allegretto with the Economic Policy Institute has found that the wage gap between the weekly wages of teachers and college graduates working in other professions grew to a record 26.6% in 2023, a significant increase from the 6.1% pay gap in 1996. In other words, on average teachers earned 73.4 cents for every dollar relative to the earnings of similar other professionals in 2023. This is much less than the 93.9 cents on the dollar they made in 1996. Another compelling reason to continue organizing.
Banned Book Week - September 22-28 is banned book week, and in recognition of this critical week of awareness, we’ve got a new resource page on the CFT website to share. Banned Book comes as PEN America reports that book bans tripled in the 2023-2024 academic year, with over 10,000 books banned in public schools.
