Photo Courtesy of Jobs with Justice

I am the President of United Campus Workers [UCW], which is made up of over 1,100 higher education employees on more than seven campuses across the state of Tennessee. UCW-CWA (Communications Workers of America) Local is a member of East Tennessee Jobs with Justice.

Our union, United Campus Workers-CWA Local 3865, has been organizing public higher- education workers in Tennessee for the last 10 years. UCW started out as a couple of dozen workers and students fighting for living wages for campus workers at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. We were not then, nor are we now, recognized by the university or the state as an official employee organization. Nevertheless, we have been able to build power for public workers through constant organizing within our union. We have had success winning decent pay raises, preventing layoffs and improving working conditions.

Although we have been organizing for over 10 years, we cannot bargain with our employer—the state of Tennessee. Our state is one of the many within the Southern region that has a right-to-work-for-less law, severely limiting our ability to form unions and negotiate for dignity and fairness at work.

Collective bargaining would mean a big change in the lives of average workers across Tennessee. It would mean the ability to negotiate contracts with decent wages and regular raises. It would mean a real voice in getting decent, affordable health care and a say in any changes our employers propose. Collective bargaining would mean a real, clear grievance procedure and a way to fight unfair firings and layoffs. It would give us increased power to fight harassment on the job and make sure everyone has a safe workplace. UCW is committed to winning collective bargaining for public workers in Tennessee.

We know that the National Labor Relations Act was the result of a strong labor movement fighting for rights, and was not the beginning of that movement. The men and women of the early unions organized because they knew the only way to win fair treatment and to protect their rights was by banding together to show management that a united workforce would not accept unfair treatment, low wages, and unsafe work conditions.

We in United Campus Workers can relate to those early organizers in many ways. In Tennessee, an "employment at will" state, the chances of public-sector employees getting a collective bargaining agreement in the near future may not be the greatest, but that does not mean we should not fight for our rights.

We cannot sit around and wait for someone to give us a contract. Instead we have to fight for strong public funding of higher education with real living wages for all employees!