Posts tagged University
Professor Claude? College unions negotiate for protection against AI teachers and evaluators.
September 25, 2026 // Research universities, like Pitt and Carnegie Mellon University, have especially embraced AI as both an area of study and a resource to be mined. The two local schools have hosted notable industry gatherings around innovation, and their respective presidents each tout the tech’s capabilities. “We’ve seen a pretty rapid effort by universities to adopt AI tools, and with, I would say, much more kind of inconsistent thinking and policy development about guardrails and protections for how those AI tools might impact academic work at universities,” said Tyler Bickford, president of Pitt’s faculty union.
Eric Carle Museum Staff Seek Union Vote
August 5, 2026 // Local 2110 of the United Auto Workers has petitioned the National Labor Relations Board to allow employees at the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, Mass., to vote on whether to unionize. The local represents museum, university, publishing, and nonprofit staff in New York and New England.
One of Oregon’s Most Powerful Unions Is Rebelling Against Democrats
April 23, 2026 // Although many donors contribute to individual candidates, OEA sends most of its legislative contributions to caucus leaders, who distribute the cash to candidates in tight races. That ensures maximum influence with leaders, who in turn decide which bills get hearings and who gets committee chairmanships. (A 2012 study by the Fordham Institute ranked OEA the second-most powerful teachers union in the country—only the Illinois teachers union ranked higher.) In addition to large and steady contributions, OEA also developed a reputation for punishing Democrats who failed to fall in line, as Sollman is now learning. One infamous example still echoes nearly two decades later.
Op-ed: Faculty leaders fear St. John’s University in NY could lose its union
December 9, 2025 // Institutions that have claimed the religious exemption include Boston College, Duquesne University, St. Leo University, Marquette University, and most recently, Loyola Marymount University. And now, faculty union leaders at St. John's University in Queens, New York, are sounding the alarm that they believe the 155-year-old Vincentian institution is laying the groundwork to follow the same path as other Catholic colleges.
Teachers Union Anti-Trump Lawfare Cases Have Little Connection to K-12 Public School Education
December 4, 2025 // The AFT began as exclusively a teachers union but has six separate divisions that also represent other public school employees, such as teacher aides, custodians, and bus drivers, as well as health care workers and higher education faculty. The union’s website says it also represents public employees, including federal and state employees. “The AFT’s lawsuit spree against the Trump administration reveals what we’ve long known: these organizations have strayed far from their mission of representing teachers,” Aaron Withe, president of the Teacher Freedom Alliance, a conservative education group, told The Daily Signal. “This is exactly why so many teachers are choosing to opt out—they want representation focused on their profession, not a political action committee.”
GET-UP announces strike authorization vote at press conference with elected officials
November 4, 2025 // GET-UP’s economic proposals have included pay increases to match a living wage, comprehensive vision and dental coverage, health insurance for dependents, childcare benefits, retirement contributions, and access to employee benefit programs. During the union’s bargaining sessions on Oct. 28, Penn provided counterproposals on various economic articles, including compensation and healthcare. In their response, according to Friedline, Penn proposed raising the minimum stipend for graduate workers from $39,425 to $43,000.
‘Reinstate the doctors!’ Hundreds protest firing of 2 UH pediatricians
July 14, 2025 // UH CEO Cliff Megerian said Beene and Fouts-Fowler inappropriately downloaded nearly 5,000 healthcare workers' personal information for reasons other than direct patient care. "It's a violation of at least five of our policies," Megerian said earlier this week. "They denied it. We found out they did, and as you can expect, that's what led to the issue." Neither of the terminated doctors knew what policies they'd broken.
UPS deliveries disrupted, others unaffected as strike continues
April 7, 2025 // UPS deliveries were disrupted for a few days as a result of the Wellesley Organized Academic Workers’ (WOAW-UAW) strike, while other deliveries to the College will remain normal. UPS, which unionized under the Teamsters Union, has the contractual right to refuse to cross a picket line, according to the UPS National Master Agreement Article 9. Students received notices from the UPS shipping email last week saying that “unfortunately, a labor strike (unrelated to UPS) has prevented delivery of your package. Your delivery has been rescheduled for the next business day.”
Some Penn State faculty want to unionize as the university considers campus closures
March 11, 2025 // Unrest has been growing among some faculty as the university makes cuts to close a deficit by this summer. An attempt to hold a vote of no confidence in Penn State president Neeli Bendapudi was tabled at a faculty senate meeting last week. Also at that meeting. Bendapudi laid out plans to close some of the Commonwealth campuses. Just how many campuses is uncertain, but none will close before the end of the 2026-27 year. Twelve of the 20 campuses ― Beaver, DuBois, Fayette, Greater Allegheny, Hazleton, Mont Alto, New Kensington, Schuylkill, Shenango, Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, and York ― are under consideration for closure. They will be evaluated by a team led by several top administrators appointed by Bendapudi; she expects to make a decision before commencement in May.
MD bill may give faculty the right to unionize
March 11, 2025 // The bill includes full-time or part-time faculty, and those who are either on tenure or non-tenure tracks. Foley added faculty at Maryland community colleges are already able to organize unions. Since 2012, the number of unionized faculty across the country has grown more than 7%, with more than a quarter of all faculty belonging to a union. More than 80% of unionized college faculty members are nontenured. Foley, a former vice president of the Communications Workers of America, said despite perceptions, unions are not just for blue collar workers.