News from AFT Higher Ed Archive

Current Issue - June 2026

First-ever union contract win in Maryland

Faculty at the Community College of Baltimore County have successfully negotiated increased pay, new job protections and a new sick leave bank as part of their first-ever union contract.

Five university librarians won their jobs back

In a major win for University Professionals of Illinois, Local 4100, five faculty librarians and two university professionals at Western Illinois University, a four-year regional university in rural Illinois, will be offered their jobs back with back pay after being laid off last year, an arbitrator ruled. The victory underscores not only the importance of university librarians but also the need for a greater investment in public higher education.

Higher-ed members fight to protect research grants

In late May, the Office of Management and Budget proposed a new rule that would, if approved, appoint senior White House officials to review applications for federal research instead of independent scientists. The move would allow the federal government to block federal funding for research applications that don’t align with the Trump administration’s views. The AFT and the American Association of University Professors partnered with Stand Up for Science and hosted a higher ed action hour for higher education workers to discuss how this pending decision would affect them. Please join with AAUP, AFT and Stand Up for Science to stop this attack and add your feedback and comments to the Federal Register during the public comment period, open until July 13, 2026.

Dismantling the Dept. of Ed. hurts higher ed

American Association of University Professors President Todd Wolfson and AFT President Randi Weingarten called the White House's decision to shift some responsibilities for special education and rehabilitative services to the Department of Health and Human Services and other responsibilities for civil rights enforcement to the Department of Justice, "a catastrophic attack on higher education." The union leaders said in a statement that the move would make it harder for college students to receive the academic accommodations they are entitled to by law. The decision would also strip marginalized students of vital protections, leaving them more exposed to systemic discrimination.

AFT Wisconsin fights for union rights

In 2011, former Wisconsin governor Scott Walker signed into law a bill that restricted the ability of Wisconsin’s public university employees to negotiate their working conditions and their students’ learning conditions. So AFT-Wisconsin fought back—and they’ll continue until they win. In the new American Educator, professor and AFT-Wisconsin president Jon Shelton describes how the union has organized and rallied support amid years of attacks on labor rights, deep budget cuts and political interference, and how their persistence and collective action is laying the groundwork for victory.

CT union leaders lobby for research funding

AFT-affiliated union leaders in Connecticut successfully lobbied state lawmakers to fund critical public health research following more than a year of grant cuts by the Trump administration. Thanks to their efforts, in March, many state lawmakers backed a bill for a $50 million research fund, a week after leaders from the American Association of University Professors’ University of Connecticut Health Center chapter testified before the state Legislature in support of the bill. Union leaders also thanked Gov. Ned Lamont, who injected $35 million into UConn and UConn Health after they wrote a letter to him in April asking him to support public health research to address Connecticut’s needs.

Remembering William A. Herbet, union leader

William A. Herbert, executive director of the National Center for the Study of Collective Bargaining in Higher Education and the Professions at Hunter College, died April 19. He was 70. His research focused on higher ed unionization, labor efforts and workers’ rights. Under his leadership, the center, its research program and its annual conference thrived.

At his memorial, AFT President Randi Weingarten highlighted Herbert’s vision and commitment to the labor movement, noting that the movement is not only healthier and more robust—experiencing incredible growth—but also more engaged in social justice because of his lasting impact.

Jennifer Gaboury, first vice president of the Professional Staff Congress of the City University of New York, who was Herbert’s union chapter chair at Hunter College, said, “Bill’s passing is a devastating loss as a lawyer, scholar, collaborator and friend to so many of us. The work he did at the center was nationally important, and Bill can’t be replaced. One could count on Bill for guidance in so many things, including which Steve Earle song you should use at an upcoming event. I miss him terribly already.”