AAUP and Other Labor Leaders Lay Out Vision for Public Higher Ed Under a Harris Presidency

Leaders of multiple national labor organizations representing faculty and staff at hundreds of colleges and universities nationwide held a press conference in Philadelphia today calling on Kamala Harris to ensure our nation’s democratic future through a renewed federal investment in our higher education institutions. The press conference coincided with the release of a Statement of Unity signed by several national unions and labor organizations including the AAUP, AFSCME, AFT, CWA, HELU, NEA, OPEIU, SEIU, UAW, Unite Here, and more.

Our coalition recognizes American higher education as a public good and bedrock of our democracy. However, the current crisis in higher education of declining public funding, ballooning student debt, and widespread job insecurity threatens that promise and jeopardizes learning and working conditions for millions of Americans.

Colleges and universities should propel opportunity for the working class—for students, workers, and communities. This is why higher education labor leaders are calling for full federal funding of public higher education, expanded access, an end to the student debt crisis, and sustainable working conditions for the four million higher education workers that form the backbone of communities in every state in the country. Workers in US community colleges, technical schools, state colleges, and research universities maintain campuses, feed students, teach courses, undertake research, care for patients, and collectively make American higher education the envy of the world.

Read the complete statement.