Supporting Pre-Contract Unionism in Higher Ed

WHEREAS, intensifying assaults on higher education call for an unprecedented, sector-wide commitment to organizing and the building of political power that can achieve meaningful material gains for members and transform higher ed into a system that serves the common good; and

WHEREAS, building the campus and sectoral power necessary to defend higher ed from the decades-long neoliberal assault on higher ed—including systematic defunding, precaritization of the professoriate, financialization of its institutions and operations, and increasingly aggressive efforts by political, donor, board and corporate elites to interfere in faculty teaching and research—will require both redoubling organizing efforts to establish more collective bargaining units in higher ed and supporting robust higher ed labor organizing efforts on non-collective bargaining campuses; and

WHEREAS, the number of non-collective bargaining AFT members has surged in the preceding two years, doubling from around 10,000 in 2024 to nearly 20,000 in 2026; and

WHEREAS, this membership growth needs to be supported in forming durable, fighting and growth-oriented labor formations at their local campus levels through adopting organizing-focused programs that actively seek to bring in the many other potential members who are regularly deeply involved in AAUP-AFT campus-level labor formations and their campaigns; and

WHEREAS, the term “union” should not be restricted to labor formations that are officially recognized by their employer as legal entities with which they must collectively bargain, as there is a long history in the labor movement of non-collective bargaining (i.e., pre-majority, pre-contract, no-contract) labor organizing, collective action and institutional forms that have built power and achieved meaningful material workplace and compensation improvements; and

WHEREAS, in some institutional contexts, campaigns for winning union certification and collectively bargained contracts face legal and other barriers and may be unrealistic or even counterproductive to building labor power on a campus in the near term; and

WHEREAS, building robust pre-contract union locals at institutions of higher ed across the nation also helps prepare fertile ground for legislative fights for collective bargaining rights, for mobilizing members to fight for improved workplace conditions and standards, and for future recognition/collective bargaining campaigns, as they can, if properly oriented toward organizing, play a vital role in fostering the development of the institutional structures, networks of worker relationships and community organizations, and union culture necessary for effective and efficient campaigns of all types:

RESOLVED, that the AFT will affirm its commitment to pre-contract unionism in higher ed and marshal its organizing power to help non-collective bargaining members and potential members build organizing- and power-building-focused, pre-contract union locals on their campuses.

Adopted July 18, 2026