Happy Labor Day UA-UNM!
Many of our union leadership is at a solidarity school today learning how to build labor and community power. As we celebrate the progress and victories that generations of workers have fought for, we urge you to participate in our current campaign for more affordable healthcare.
Register to Attend the HELU Town Hall
Thursday, September 17th, 6pm MT
Speaking out and showing up to the Higher Education Labor United New Mexico’s (HELU-NM) Town Hall could convince legislators to cut your premiums, and for some UA-UNM faculty, this could mean a 50% cut in your premiums.
This past legislative session, the legislature passed HB47, mandating an 80/20 employer health insurance split for K-12 public school employees. Higher ed employees were explicitly excluded from that mandate. That’s why it is important for you to sign our petition, so you can help us build the evidence that will make legislative action winnable when we go to the legislature. Legislators respond to demonstrated, organized constituent pressure, not just the fairness of an argument on its own.
Through our petition, we aim to show administration the level of member support behind our demand. We want UNM administration to stand with faculty and staff to ask the legislature for 80/20. You can also help us build power through filling out and sharing the HELU survey that gathers data and testimony to keep pressing for affordable coverage.
The petition, the HELU survey, and the September 17th Town Hall are how we are building our power, to have both administration and legislators hear our voice, as we demand more equitable healthcare coverage for all higher ed workers.
We welcome your voice in making this case to legislators through the following:
- Sign the petition to demand affordable healthcare.
- Register to attend the HELU-NM Town Hall that kicks off this fight on
- Fill out and share the HELU survey that gathers data and testimony to keep pressing for affordable coverage.
AAUP Zoom Webinar: Introducing the New Toolkit for Activism on AI
Wednesday, September 9, 3:00–4:00 p.m. ET on Zoom
Over the summer, members of the AAUP’s ad hoc Committee on Artificial Intelligence and Academic Professions were busy with the development of a toolkit for activism on AI that includes resources for fighting against the top-down adoption of technology by colleges and universities. The first webinar in the series will introduce these materials—available now on the AAUP website—and provide an overview of how academics can use them as tools for campus advocacy, organizing, and bargaining. Register Now.
Steward Spotlight
This week, we are introducing our Steward Spotlight, a celebration of UA-UNM’s members who build our strength from the ground up. If the UNM faculty is one body, stewards are the nerve endings woven through every department and hallway, scanning, reading, and responding to conditions before they become even bigger problems.
Union stewards represent fellow workers and act as a frontline link between employees and both the union and management. They educate and represent members, enforce contracts, handle grievances and more. Stewards don’t wear capes, but they possess a superpower called showing up. UA-UNM seeks to spotlight its stewards and highlight this important work on campus.
Glenn Koelling works in the university libraries as the undergraduate engagement coordinator. She loves what she does because her students are a joy to work with: curious, funny, kind, and they care deeply about their work. Glenn can say the same about her colleagues. She became a steward to know more about what’s going on at UNM and because she believes unions are an important part of the power balance of work in America.
Interested in becoming a steward? Email organizing@uaunm.org for more details and sign up for Steward Training on October 3, from 12:30-4pm.
In solidarity,
United Academics of UNM
Upcoming Events
Thursday, September 10, 9:00-10:00am – Communications Committee Meeting – all campuses on Zoom
Join us to help share information with our members through weekly email updates, social media, our website, and union events.
Email info@uaunm.org for the Zoom link and password.
Thursday, September 10, 3:30-5:00pm – Organizing Committee Meeting – all campuses on Zoom
Help build our membership and train new leaders through organizing events and workshops
Email organizing@uaunm.org for the Zoom link and password.
UA-UNM Steward Training, Saturday, October 3rd 12:30-4pm
Mark your calendars to attend UA-UNM Steward Training and become a point person for rank and file members and a decision maker within the union. Sign up for Steward Training.
General Membership Meeting, Tuesday, October 13, 5-7pm
General Membership Meeting – on the Albuquerque campus and on Zoom
Location and details TBD
Union Quote of the Week:
“Workers’ rights and civil rights are all tied together. We’ve never had one without the other.”
–Eric Bunn, national secretary-treasurer of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE)
