Benefits of Joining Your Union
Some Context: The History of Labor Organizing in Arizona
It’s impossible to appreciate Arizona’s labor histories without some knowledge of the colonial and racial construction of the state.
After the U.S.-Mexico War (1846-1848) and the Treaty of Mesilla (1854), the United States took over what we now know as the state of Arizona and had to confront governing sizable, diverse populations of Indigenous peoples and ethnic Mexicans. Historically, this has been a violent, asymmetrical process of restrictions, expulsions, and, occasionally, cooperation. During times of economic prosperity, workers from different backgrounds have been encouraged to partake of robust demands for labor--historically, the jobs that helped build Arizona’s economic base were mining, agriculture, cattle, and railroads. From these times came policies like the Bracero Program or the Wheeler-Howard Act, both which were meant to grant some economic autonomy and opportunity to migrant and Indigenous workers during the Roosevelt administration, respectively.
However, in times of economic crises, workers--especially non-white workers--have been blamed, maligned, and punished over perceptions of “taking jobs away” from white workers or otherwise benefitting, unfairly, from market forces or government policies. During these periods, there have been mass deportations and repressive policing against non-white populations, in general, and non-white workers who attempt to organize. Structural acts like the “repatriation” of 1 million Mexican people during the Great Depression; or the violent response from Arizona Rangers to striking mine workers in Cananea, Sonora, Mexico in 1906; or the policy known as “outing” wherein Indigenous youth attending the Phoenix Indian School would be contracted out to mostly white families to work as housemaids or fieldhands in order to condition them to manual labor while also providing inexpensive workers for people of means.
When we work together, and when we’re mindful of the ways bosses and their allies exploit our differences to keep us divided, workers from all races, backgrounds, abilities, and cultures can do a lot. We can expose the alliances between greedy managers and paid political figures, we can recruit and partner with a larger, activated group of people, and we can win.
Higher Education Organizing
We know that union-membership nationally and globally is on the rise. Last year, the U.S. Department of the Treasury released a "first-of-it's-kind" factsheet on labor unions, highlighting the importance of unions in strengthening the middle-class and benefitting the economy.
Read the fact sheet hereThe U.S. Department of Labor, in a piece titled Why unions are important, states that unions are vital to protecting the “health, safety, wages, and retirement security of working Americans.” And, according to UnionTrack, approximately 60% of the employees who engaged in work stoppages in 2023 were “educators, researches, or other academic professionals.” (2024)
The American Association of University Professors posted these findings in the Spring of 2023:
- Over two-thirds (68 percent) of faculty members in US colleges and universities held contingent appointments in fall 2021, compared with about 47 percent in fall 1987.
- Nearly half (48 percent) of faculty members in US colleges and universities were employed part time in fall 2021, compared with about 33 percent in 1987.
- About 24 percent of faculty members in US colleges and universities held full-time tenured appointments in fall 2021, compared with about 39 percent in fall 1987.
The report concludes, "Overreliance on contingent appointments, which lack the protection of tenure for academic freedom and the economic security of continuing appointments, threatens the success of institutions in fulfilling their obligations to students and to society." (AAUP, 2023)
Our Wins
When we fight, we win.
Wage Increases
| Job Protection
Shared Power in University Governance Structures
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Period Equity Win
The union secured a major victory for all workers on healthcare and gender equity issues at UA. As of Summer 2024, all first floor campus bathrooms (excluding the student union and gyms) will feature menstrual products (sustainable pads and tampons) and product dispensers.
HB2735 Veto Protects Worker-Led Governance Statewide
After a pitched-battle nationally over faculty governance, Arizona became the next victim of this right wing attack on worker governance and power. Through the Arizona Board of Regents, the State legislature passed a bill that would dismantle the rights of faculty to govern internally at their institutions (a right originally enshrined in the AZ state constitution). However, after tireless campaigning and advocacy by UCWAZ and the Arizona AFL-CIO, Governor Hobbs vetoed this proposed legislation.
Read Governor Hobbs' Veto Letter
Overpay Issue at ASU
Graduate student RA/TAs at ASU had been “overpaid” over the course of several months due to administrative errors. ASU was demanding that students pay back anywhere between $5,000 to $11,000. UCWAZ and other student groups organized against this and pushed back so that students weren’t forced to pay back money they didn’t have.
Fee-Waiver Win at the University of Arizona
UCWAZ, CWA Local 7065, and partners in the University of Arizona's (UA) Graduate and Professional Student Council (GPSC) pulled off a historic financial win for graduate students at UA. Student fees have now been bundled with tuition, so anyone receiving tuition remission will have this applied to their fees. Several thousand TAs, RAs, and GAs are now free of paying hundreds and thousands of dollars of fees.
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One of our graduate student members at the University of Arizona showed a snapshot of life before and after our fee waiver win. The picture on the left shows our member's Fall 2023 student fees. The picture on the right shows our member's Fall 2024 student fees, which have been bundled and are significantly fewer. | |
Tuition remission means that the University pays for your tuition as part of your package as a TA, RA, or GA. Thus, GAs, TAs, and RAs make poor wages because half of their “salary” is in wages and the other half is in tuition remission. Essentially, the University tries to reduce pay for grad students by paying their tuition. Student fees come out of the already slim wages you’re paid, rather than already being counted in the “tuition remission.” Bundling the fees into tuition remission means students get to keep their paid wages in their pocket rather than getting deducted more wages in the form of fees.
This saves thousands of graduate students at UA between $800 and $1,000 per semester. Over the course of their time in their programs, graduate students will now save between approximately $4,500 to $7,500.
Where Your Dues Really Go
Your dues make our organizing work possible. Dues support the operational expenses of our organization including resources, training, communications, lobbying and legal services, and more.
Members shall pay monthly dues in an amount recommended by the Executive Committee and ratified by the membership by majority vote. (UCWAZ By-Laws, approved 2021)
Below is a breakdown of how your dues fund your union, by percentage. Each umbrella term is followed by a breakdown of fund disbursement in each area with a brief explanation.
Organizers - 67.3% | This includes employees’ salaries and benefits, office supplies, software, equipment and technology. |
Swag - 1.4% | This includes printing and mailing flyers, postcards, posters, and wearable swag like shirts, totes, buttons, and stickers. |
Legal Defense Fund - 3.6% | We help to cover legal services for members’ employment-related claims. |
Per-Capita Dues to CWA - 14.4% | This is our share of CWA’s national strike growth funds. |
Organizing Expenses - 7.5% | This includes hosting union socials and other public-facing events, travel costs for members to attend conferences and local-wide events, and space fees. |
Mutual Aid & Solidarity Fund - 1.9% | This money goes into mutual aid for community members and the solidarity fund which pays members dues who cannot otherwise afford to pay. |
Accountant & Legal Fees - 2.7% | Legal fees for our annual tax-filing. |
Contributions to Local Organizations - 0.9% | These are approved contributions to local-adjacent organizations, including MALF, PALF, and HELU. |
You can view and download our one-pager explaining your dues breakdown by clicking the button below.
Where your dues really go
Join Your Union
Are you afraid of being fired at any time for any reason, basically at the whim of the senior leadership?
This organization is for you.
Do you wonder why graduate students in other departments are treated so differently than in yours?
This organization is for you.
Are you tired of being ignored by the senior leadership when you request transparency in university decision making?
This organization is for you.
Join our wall-to-wall union of faculty, staff, and student employees, building our collective power to advance academic justice in fulfilling our higher-education institutions' public missions.