Dear colleague,
We have a chance to advance our goals for higher education nationally if we can get our priorities included in the budget reconciliation legislation being considered by Congress. This is an important moment, and the legislator who needs to hear from us is Senator Patty Murray of Washington state. Murray is the chair of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, which is writing the final version of the higher ed provisions in the budget reconciliation bill.
Please take some time today or tomorrow to call Sen. Murray’s office at 202-224-2621 and tell her the reconciliation bill should include these three priorities:
- Require all institutions getting federal support to move towards 75 percent tenure stream instruction, starting by converting current adjuncts and NTTs to new tenure stream positions.
- Expand free tuition to include all two- and four-year public institutions.
- Require pay parity for remaining adjuncts and a living wage for all campus workers.
We’ve been told that we are close to winning tenure-track labor protections advanced by Higher Ed Labor United (HELU), the coalition of unions and organizations we helped to found in the summer. HELU has now been endorsed by 81 unions representing more than 460,000 higher ed workers. You can find out more about HELU by going to the coalition’s new website and signing the HELU Pledge to Take Action.
This is about protecting the academy and funding our futures, and the next few days are critical. Please call Senator Murray’s office at 202-224-2621 and tell her what we need for higher ed.
In solidarity,
Becky and Todd
Rebecca Givan, President, Rutgers AAUP-AFT
Todd Wolfson, General Vice President, Rutgers AAUP-AFT
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