#laborunion — Public Fediverse posts

James Endres Howell @[email protected] · 2026-05-22 · 03:17 UTC

@aram It's an old story and a mundane one. We patiently, doggedly organized. We got fed up, we decided it was time to form a union. (Crystallized around the administration ordering us back into classrooms in 2021 with no real mask mandate and an overt, cowardly capitulation to a tiny handful of Trumpist anti-vaxxers in the state capitol.)

A committed core quietly organized for two years. Auditioned a bunch of big internationals. Only SEIU had the resources to take us on: a historically large unit, 5,000+ faculty spread across a dozen campuses around the state. Two more years of quiet behind-the-scenes organizing.

I got seriously involved over the past year, after we went public. Testifying at the Capitol, talking to media, countless meetings, outreach to students, canvassing almost daily, knocking on colleagues' doors, getting enough cards for an election, and then winning it.

My spiel was simple: my wife is an academic with the same experience as I have, but she makes a 30% higher salary, and has laughably dramatically extra-galactically better benefits, than I do.

Like I said, so much more to say, but that's the nut of it.

Last week we got the results, a 3:1 victory, despite the administration's ham-fisted scare tactics.

"When we fight, we win."

James Endres Howell @[email protected] · 2026-05-22 · 03:17 UTC

@aram It's an old story and a mundane one. We patiently, doggedly organized. We got fed up, we decided it was time to form a union. (Crystallized around the administration ordering us back into classrooms in 2021 with no real mask mandate and an overt, cowardly capitulation to a tiny handful of Trumpist anti-vaxxers in the state capitol.)

A committed core quietly organized for two years. Auditioned a bunch of big internationals. Only SEIU had the resources to take us on: a historically large unit, 5,000+ faculty spread across a dozen campuses around the state. Two more years of quiet behind-the-scenes organizing.

I got seriously involved over the past year, after we went public. Testifying at the Capitol, talking to media, countless meetings, outreach to students, canvassing almost daily, knocking on colleagues' doors, getting enough cards for an election, and then winning it.

My spiel was simple: my wife is an academic with the same experience as I have, but she makes a 30% higher salary, and has laughably dramatically extra-galactically better benefits, than I do.

Like I said, so much more to say, but that's the nut of it.

Last week we got the results, a 3:1 victory, despite the administration's ham-fisted scare tactics.

"When we fight, we win."

James Endres Howell @[email protected] · 2026-05-22 · 03:17 UTC

@aram It's an old story and a mundane one. We patiently, doggedly organized. We got fed up, we decided it was time to form a union. (Crystallized around the administration ordering us back into classrooms in 2021 with no real mask mandate and an overt, cowardly capitulation to a tiny handful of Trumpist anti-vaxxers in the state capitol.)

A committed core quietly organized for two years. Auditioned a bunch of big internationals. Only SEIU had the resources to take us on: a historically large unit, 5,000+ faculty spread across a dozen campuses around the state. Two more years of quiet behind-the-scenes organizing.

I got seriously involved over the past year, after we went public. Testifying at the Capitol, talking to media, countless meetings, outreach to students, canvassing almost daily, knocking on colleagues' doors, getting enough cards for an election, and then winning it.

My spiel was simple: my wife is an academic with the same experience as I have, but she makes a 30% higher salary, and has laughably dramatically extra-galactically better benefits, than I do.

Like I said, so much more to say, but that's the nut of it.

Last week we got the results, a 3:1 victory, despite the administration's ham-fisted scare tactics.

"When we fight, we win."

#organizing #highered #academia #laborunion

James Endres Howell @[email protected] · 2026-05-22 · 03:17 UTC

@aram It's an old story and a mundane one. We patiently, doggedly organized. We got fed up, we decided it was time to form a union. (Crystallized around the administration ordering us back into classrooms in 2021 with no real mask mandate and an overt, cowardly capitulation to a tiny handful of Trumpist anti-vaxxers in the state capitol.)

A committed core quietly organized for two years. Auditioned a bunch of big internationals. Only SEIU had the resources to take us on: a historically large unit, 5,000+ faculty spread across a dozen campuses around the state. Two more years of quiet behind-the-scenes organizing.

I got seriously involved over the past year, after we went public. Testifying at the Capitol, talking to media, countless meetings, outreach to students, canvassing almost daily, knocking on colleagues' doors, getting enough cards for an election, and then winning it.

My spiel was simple: my wife is an academic with the same experience as I have, but she makes a 30% higher salary, and has laughably dramatically extra-galactically better benefits, than I do.

Like I said, so much more to say, but that's the nut of it.

Last week we got the results, a 3:1 victory, despite the administration's ham-fisted scare tactics.

"When we fight, we win."

James Endres Howell @[email protected] · 2026-05-21 · 19:04 UTC

@aram Ho HO let me tell you, I got SO MUCH to say about this topic! So much that I spent the past year canvassing all over campus and getting cards signed and filing for an election and then winning a union MIC DROP

James Endres Howell @[email protected] · 2026-05-21 · 19:04 UTC

@aram Ho HO let me tell you, I got SO MUCH to say about this topic! So much that I spent the past year canvassing all over campus and getting cards signed and filing for an election and then winning a union MIC DROP

James Endres Howell @[email protected] · 2026-05-21 · 19:04 UTC

@aram Ho HO let me tell you, I got SO MUCH to say about this topic! So much that I spent the past year canvassing all over campus and getting cards signed and filing for an election and then winning a union MIC DROP

James Endres Howell @[email protected] · 2026-05-21 · 19:04 UTC

@aram Ho HO let me tell you, I got SO MUCH to say about this topic! So much that I spent the past year canvassing all over campus and getting cards signed and filing for an election and then winning a union MIC DROP

#highered #academia #laborunion

James Endres Howell @[email protected] · 2026-05-21 · 19:04 UTC

@aram Ho HO let me tell you, I got SO MUCH to say about this topic! So much that I spent the past year canvassing all over campus and getting cards signed and filing for an election and then winning a union MIC DROP