Union members are making a difference every day.

UUPers?and more than 400 of their higher education colleagues from across the country know that only too well—and proved it once again in April during the AFT Higher Education Issues Conference in Philadelphia.

Underscoring the theme “Making a Difference Every Day: Our Work, Our Union, Our Students,” participants discussed the growing concerns on college and university campuses nationwide, as well as the all-out assault on unions and workers’ rights. Six UUP members moderated discussions and served as panelists on issues ranging from the role of professionals in student success, to bullying on campus, to promoting faculty diversity.

TAKING THE LEAD

UUP?President Phil Smith moderated the opening plenary on confronting the fiscal and political crises across the nation.

“We have an American public that has been fed a line that public employee pensions and other hard-fought union benefits are to blame for their problems,” Smith said. “America faces real economic and fiscal challenges. Our opponents—now in power—have chosen not to try to solve these problems, but to use their opportunity to destroy us where they can, and to exert as many concessions as possible where they can’t.”

Smith set the stage for AFT?President Randi Weingarten, who called on unionists to take a stand for workers everywhere.

“I don’t think anyone knew how evil these people are,”?Weingarten said. “These are not the faces of extremists, but of people who took the anxiety of the middle class and exploited it. They are trying to eviscerate every right, every economic benefit, every education initiative we’ve worked for all our lives. They want to change the body politic so, in Carl Rove’s words, they can have a ‘durable majority.’”

Weingarten said the future of the labor movement is at stake, and urged members to mobilize.

“Those of us in this room get to decide if we have the gumption to turn this moment into a movement,” she said.

AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Liz Shuler echoed that sentiment in her keynote address.

“It’s important for us to remember that the protests spreading across America are not the result of the AFL-CIO, the Democratic Party or the Obama administration,” Shuler said. “This is a bottom-up, grassroots movement with its own momentum—a true spontaneous outcry against our winner-take-all political culture.”

THE ISSUES

The partnerships among labor unions and the community can—and should—be used to heighten public awareness of AFT’s higher education priorities and to show that education unions are not solely about their members, but about their work and their students, too. Key priorities of the AFT are academic staffing, student success, faculty diversity, and academic freedom—all of which were discussed at length during the three-day conference.

Released during the conference was a new AFT report, “Student Success in Higher Education,” which offers the faculty and staff perspective on higher education curricula, teaching and student assessment. “We hope our perspective will advance the national dialogue on these concerns,” the report states.

For the full report, go to www.aft.org and click on Higher Education. For further dialogue, go to AFT’s What Should Count website at www.whatshouldcount.org.

UUPERS LEND A VOICE

Panelists Jamie Dangler of Cortland and Charles Callahan III of Brockport discussed the growing gap between a diverse student population and the diversity of the faculty who teach them. The panel stressed the important role higher ed unions can play in improving the gender, racial and ethnic diversity of faculty with the goal of enhancing the educational experience of their students.

UUP Vice President for Professionals John Marino moderated a workshop on the increased reliance on professionals to achieve student success. During the workshop, UUP delegate Jen Drake facilitated small-group discussions on strategies to ensure student success and on how the union can promote student values and support their needs.

UUPer Joel Neuman of New Paltz, an associate professor of management and organizational behavior, shared his expertise on the hows and whys behind bullying. The panel also discussed how unions can institute policies to protect members from bullies.

— Karen L. Mattison