UC-AFT fighting back against attacks on higher education
UC-AFT Local 1474, which represents teaching faculty and librarians across the UC system, has been on the forefront of the national movement to fight President Trump's attacks on higher education. Threats to federal funding have produced strong resistance to cuts to research and teaching that threaten our universities.
“The withholding of funding is how the current federal administration hopes to gut higher ed,” says UC-AFT President Katie Rodger, “not only to halt vital research that benefits citizens in every state, but to stifle the freedoms of speech and protest that threaten the administration’s authoritarian agenda.”
When the University of California turned over faculty data in response to a federal subpoena, UC-AFT called on UC to push back, and with the recent revocation of student visas UC-AFT partnered with UC professors to demand protections for both UC faculty and students.
UC-AFT also is helping lead the way in opposition to the governor’s proposed 8% cut to the UC and CSU budgets for the 2025–26 school year. On March 4, Rodger and UC-AFT Vice President of Legislation Trevor Griffey joined advocates from UAW 4811 and the Council of UC Faculty Associations (CUCFA) in lobbying legislators against the cuts before joining the March in March in Sacramento. On April 9, UC-AFT members joined CFT’s lobby day, and met with roughly 20 legislators to encourage them to stop the cuts.
And just this week, Rodger and CFT President Jeff Freitas released a joint statement standing with Harvard University in their refusal to cave in to unprecedented demands from the administration.
(Pictured above: UC-AFT Bay Area activists at the UC Berkeley Kill the Cuts rally on April 8.)
Health Care Affordability Board to consider limit on price increases at the most expensive CA hospitals
Next Tuesday, April 22, the California Health Care Affordability Board will consider a regulation that would limit annual price increases at the most expensive hospitals in California to 1.6–1.8%. This regulation, if enacted, would not only help patients at these hospitals better afford life-saving healthcare, it would also send a message to California's entire healthcare industry that their days of limitless price gouging are over.
If you are in the Sacramento area, please consider joining fellow CFT members who will be on the ground in Sacramento for the 9:00 a.m. meeting to support the regulation. Supporters can also participate remotely. Please email [email protected] if you can make it in-person or online or if you have any questions. Details here.
April 30 webinar: K-12 Educators Defending Immigrant Communities
On Wednesday, April 30 at 4:00 p.m. United Teachers Los Angeles educators will share the components of their union-wide efforts to support the immigrant community in Los Angeles in a CFT webinar. Presenters will share the work their union has done with their members, the district, and school board and with immigrant rights community organizations and other labor partners. They will also share how their contract bargaining is shaped by this work. All CFT members are welcome. RSVP here.
Fight Back Update
Bernie and AOC draw 30,000 at Folsom rally – Senator Bernie Sanders and Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez took part in three massive rallies in California this week as part of Bernie Sanders’s national Fighting Oligarchy tour. Stops included April 12 in Los Angeles, the morning of April 15 in Bakersfield, and the afternoon of April 15 in Folsom (pictured above), where over 30,000 people attended. The incredible turnout at the rallies is a testament to the growing fight back against damaging and illegal moves by the Trump administration.
50501 National Day of Action this Saturday, April 19 – Rallies planned across the country and state. Details here.
May Day rallies – Mass rallies are being planned across the state to recognize May Day, including in Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Jose, Ventura, and more. For information on these rallies and others throughout the state, go to the May Day Strong website.
