My name is Rotua Lumbantobing. I am running for AAUP Vice President because this union is uniquely positioned to stop and reverse the death by a thousand cuts both higher education and the labor movement have suffered for decades. 

For far too long, self-serving individuals and corporations have starved social goods while lining their own pockets. For far too long, hostile policymakers and their ultra-wealthy sponsors have weakened unions with disastrous results for the vast majority of people. For far too long, management has made a cruel mockery of principles we hold dear, such as shared governance and academic freedom. And for far too long, the engines of economic and social mobility – our colleges and universities – have balanced the books on the backs of an increasingly contingent and otherwise vulnerable workforce. 

It doesn’t have to be this way. The gig economy has prompted the labor movement in other sectors to adopt new strategies and tactics, and thereby build the organizational capacity necessary to produce wins for their members. Similarly, our union needs to change because higher education has changed. The old way of doing things will simply exacerbate the declension we have experienced in our working conditions and our students’ learning conditions. AAUP therefore needs to become a democratic, transparent, and participatory union that emphasizes rank-and-file organizing, leadership, activism, and coalition building.

Our colleges and universities obviously do not exist in a vacuum. Rather, we are part of a large, diverse ecosystem in which racialized austerity has become the norm. We need look no further than our own students for evidence of this. When our students suffer from inadequate housing, food insecurity, environmental inequalities, or a host of other injustices, we all suffer. 

That is why AAUP must embrace a more transformative kind of unionism. Aligning our interests with those of our students and communities, and then building our organization from the bottom up, is not only a moral imperative but also a strategic one. It is only through social justice unionism that we can build the collective power to fight back and win the institutions that we, our students, and our communities deserve.  

My union brothers and sisters—Donna, Davarian, Karen, and Ernesto—started this important work two years ago. Todd, Danielle, Chenjerai, and I want to build on that. As Vice President of AAUP, I aim to continue building an organizing, fighting union that is more transparent, participatory, and effective for all its members. I ask that you vote for me and the United Faculty for the Common Good slate because we want what you want: a strong union that fights for our students and our future.