Fighting for Our Workplaces
We are faculty and staff at HBCUs, organizing unions to improve our working conditions and students' learning conditions. We believe in the mission and historical legacy of HBCUs– to stand up for economic and social justice, provide opportunities for our students and instill them with lifelong values of ambition, solidarity, excellence, and resilience. In order for all of us to continue that mission, we need to establish and grow HBCU union power.
For nearly a century, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) throughout the southeast have been epicenters of community and academic accomplishment for our students, workers, and communities. We, the faculty and staff of HBCUS, dedicate our lives to help our students achieve their professional and educational goals. We serve a diverse student body, including first-generation students, low-income students, students in the workforce, and students with disabilities. In other words, HBCUs and the faculty and staff who dedicate themselves to these schools make the college landscape more accessible.
Despite the myriad benefits our schools provide, we are in a constant battle for sufficient funding, and our requests to state governments for improved resources are met with gross negligence. The result? Workers have to take on unfeasible workloads while earning low and, in many cases, unlivable wages, reducing employee retention. Students and workers typically have less access than their peers at predominantly-white institutions to necessary resources such as adequately funded programs, well-maintained buildings, mentorship opportunities, and updated technology. Critical services such as facilities, dining, and IT are often outsourced to private, profit-seeking companies that pay low wages and can’t provide high-quality services.
In order to address these challenges and more, we must organize and unify our voices! Contact us today to join us.