About United campus workers-cwa
United Campus Workers-CWA: Building a Powerful Voice for Higher Education Employees Across the South
United Campus Workers (UCW) is a union that represents higher education employees across the South. The organization is committed to building a powerful voice for staff, faculty, graduate and undergraduate workers in colleges and universities. UCW believes that by coming together, taking coordinated action, and standing up for one another, they can win major victories for themselves, their coworkers and their communities.
UCW was founded in 2000 as an independent union of higher education employees in Tennessee. Since then, it has grown into a wall-to-wall union with members from all job classifications at public colleges and universities across the state. In 2013, UCW affiliated with the Communication Workers of America (CWA), which has helped to expand its reach beyond Tennessee.
The mission of UCW is to improve working conditions and wages for all higher education employees while also advocating for quality public education. The organization believes that everyone who works on campus should have access to affordable healthcare benefits, retirement security and fair wages.
One of the key ways that UCW achieves its goals is through collective bargaining agreements with employers. These agreements help to ensure that workers are treated fairly by their employers while also providing them with important protections such as grievance procedures and job security.
In addition to collective bargaining agreements, UCW also engages in political advocacy at both the state and national levels. The organization works closely with lawmakers to promote policies that benefit higher education employees such as increasing funding for public colleges and universities or expanding access to affordable healthcare.
Over the years, UCW has achieved many significant victories on behalf of its members. For example:
- In 2018, after years of organizing by UCW members at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC), nurses voted overwhelmingly in favor of forming a union.
- In 2019, after months of negotiations between UCW-CWA and the University of Memphis, a new collective bargaining agreement was reached that included significant wage increases for all employees.
- In 2020, UCW-CWA members at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville successfully negotiated a new contract that included pay raises and improved healthcare benefits.
UCW is committed to continuing its work on behalf of higher education employees across the South. The organization believes that by building a strong union and working together, they can achieve even greater victories in the years to come.