Do you work on campus? You could join the Kennesaw State University UCW, the union advocating for professors, faculty and student workers.
KSU’s chapter of the United Campus Workers union has expanded since its creation in 2018 and continues to advocate for campus worker issues.
These include fair pay, improved working conditions and more space for the voice of workers within the University System of Georgia. Some recent campaigns the KSU chapter focused on include a fight in defense of remote work and efforts to keep resource centers and DEI related organizations within KSU.
Heather Pincock, associate professor of conflict management and member of the KSU chapter coordination committee explained that the organization has grown significantly since she joined in 2018.
The organization, which is a part of the broader United Campus Workers Southeast (CWA local 3281), has around 1,000 members within Georgia, with the number growing each day as they continue to recruit staff, faculty and student workers.
This effort, though, has faced difficulties due to Georgia’s restrictions on public workers collective bargaining.
“Our campaigns are often focused on decision makers like the KSU president, other university administrators, the USG chancellor, and the Board of Regents,” said Pincock.
On the KSU campus, the UCW fights for better pay for faculty, staff and student workers.
“Student workers are some of the least well-paid workers on our campus,” Pincock said. “Many earn well below a living wage of $21 an hour.”
Ethan Milam, a KSU student, intern and member of the UCW, works to encourage student workers to join. Milam said, “What I hope workers get from the UCW is a voice in their workplace.”
Faculty, Pincock added, are also affected by the issues the union currently fights to fix. “There are many issues facing faculty related to pay, working conditions and political interference in our jobs that our union is fighting to address.”
Since forming its formation in 2018, the KSU UCW has expanded significantly and recently joined with other Southeastern locals to form a larger regional union. Pincock credits much of the organization’s growth within the KSU campus to personal outreach and connection.
“We talk to our co-workers and invite them to join,” she said. “Everyone who receives a paycheck from the University System of Georgia is welcome in our union.”
There is hesitancy among many campus workers not a part of the union, though. “Sometimes our co-workers are afraid because they think that unions are not allowed in Georgia,” Pincock said. “We let them know they absolutely have the right to join a union.”
Milam explains that, since dues come out of each person’s bank account, the university doesn’t know when someone has joined the union. “The process for joining is very straightforward. It’s a quick form to fill out on their website. It also comes straight from your bank account so the university doesn’t know if you’ve joined the union or not,” Milam said.
Pincock, who joined in 2018 when the chapter launched, explained her motivation is rooted in her belief in collective action. “Workers are better off when we are organized,” she said.
The obstacles UCW faces at KSU reflect broader struggles across higher education, particularly in Southern states. A 2022 Facing South report noted that while public support for unions grows, state laws and political resistance have hindered union expansion across the region in many ways.
“Higher education is under political attack,” Pincock said. “We find many common issues with fellow campus workers across the state and the country.”
According to Pincock, sustained effort and teamwork is key to pushing through obstacles. “Organizing is a marathon, not a sprint, and we really have to approach it like a relay race,” Pincock said. “We encourage all of our members to stay active and engaged so that we have each other’s backs.”
An example of this solidarity and effort can be seen during the COVID-19 pandemic, when UCW members at KSU made a worker solidarity fund to support employees that were laid off to help support them. This is an important memory of the work the UCW does for Pincock. The fund later expanded to assist other campus workers in need.
The UCW continues to advocate for issues that affect campus workers. Some important causes the UCW fights for include a $20+ hour base pay for all campus workers, elimination of student fees for graduate workers, health insurance subsidization for graduate workers, increased in stipends for graduate workers, cost of living adjustments for campus workers and increases in minimum per-class rates for non-tenure track professors.
Pincock hopes to continue growing the chapter and building a more democratic structure for campus workers to advocate collectively. She also explains her focus of organization is to raise outreach for students and work to strengthen cross department collaborations and job classifications.
“I hope to see the union continue to grow, be a vibrant space for democratic decision-making amongst workers, and build worker power to win better working conditions and pay for all campus workers,” Pincock said.
To Milam, the UCW is a way for campus workers to organize and get more control of their workplace. “Organized workers have more of a say in their working conditions and pay,” he said.
While the UCW, along with unions at large may face obstacles, its organizers say rising membership and expanding regional partnerships position it to keep advancing its goals.
As the UCW branches into different campuses, members continue to advocate for campus worker issues, though potential worries remain present among some faculty, staff and student workers.
