For more information, contact Julie Gumerman at
330-346-9437 or kentchange@yahoo.com

As a student organization that exists to defend workers’ rights, the Coalition for a Humane And New Global Economy (CHANGE) strongly supports the Kent State University staff’s campaign to form a union affiliated with the United Steel Workers of America (USWA).

Unions are an important way for workers in any profession or industry to gain a voice on the job and a measure of security. Unions are not just for blue collar workers. They are for everyone. The record clearly demonstrates that union workers are on average significantly better off than non-union workers in terms of wages, benefits, health care, working conditions, and job security. There is power in union, and that power is a means to a better quality of life for workers and their families.

The right to organize is a fundamental human right, recognized as such by U.S. and international law. It is an essential prerequisite to workplace democracy, and without it democracy itself is a hollow word.

Furthermore, it is particularly fitting that KSU, as an institution of higher learning should have a unionized workforce where employees have the power to determine their own working conditions and the job security needed to better focus on serving the needs of students and the university community. A union would benefit all of KSU, not just its members.

CHANGE strongly encourages all KSU staff to join the union, and we offer our solidarity, assistance, and support, whenever it is needed.

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For more information about the USWA union campaign, "KSU Staff United", visit their website.