This summer, delegates to the American Association of University Professors Biennial Association Meeting voted to affiliate with the AFT. On July 15th at the AFT Convention, AFT President Randi Weingarten and AAUP President Irene Mulvey signed the historic affiliation agreement, which went into effect on August 1, 2022. If you weren't able to make the Convention to see it in person, you can watch the recording of the livestream here:
In a joint statement this week, Presidents Mulvey and Weingarten outlined why this is such a big deal:
Now, together, we represent more higher education workers than any other union. Our game-changing partnership brings together AAUP’s academic expertise and AFT’s power and reach, and creates a movement with the strength of hundreds of thousands of higher education workers. Together, we will be stronger in our work to dismantle systemic racism and fight white supremacy; we vow to bring a racial equity lens to all aspects of all of our work. Together, we will be more effective at beating back outrageous legislative intrusions into the academy—intrusions that obliterate the academic freedom needed for effective teaching, research and free inquiry. Together, we will be united in our efforts to ensure that higher education plays its essential role as a public good in a democracy.
Here at AFT-Kansas, we proudly welcome the AAUP members in chapters all across the state. We unequivocally support the mission of the AAUP:
- to advance academic freedom and shared governance;
- to define fundamental professional values and standards;
- to promote the economic security of those who teach and research in higher education;
- to organize to make our goals a reality; and
- to ensure higher education's contribution to the common good.
Joining forces with the AAUP makes the organized academic labor movement stronger, amplifying the voices of tenure-track faculty, lecturers and adjuncts, university researchers, graduate employees, and other academic professionals fighting for their rights and protections at their institutions. With education at all levels coming increasingly under attack—from public budget and funding cuts and physical and verbal assaults on educators to the vilification of expertise and drastic changes imposed by legislators with no input from the people they affect—this partnership is a huge step forward for worker power.
We are excited for the future of higher education in Kansas and across the country!