Editor's note: NFA leadership wanted to share the following message, which it received today from AFL-CIO President Richard L. Trumka.

Dear Colleague:

I would recommend that you read this short article on the AFL-CIO Now Blog about a recent conference of scholars at Georgetown University:
http://blog.aflcio.org/2011/06/09/academics-activists-search-for-new-ways-to-revitalize-labor-movement/print/

The AFL-CIO is involved in establishing a new network of college and university faculty members, graduate teaching employees, student activists, and scholars who support the interests of working families and favor policies to rebuild the middle class in our country. The network was launched at a June 8, 2011, conference at Georgetown that included academics from around the country, from multiple disciplines, who are promoting the study and exchange of ideas about creative ways of organizing workers into unions, worker centers, and other forms of worker organizations. The yet-to-be-named academic network is currently assembling an interim executive committee and planning its future activities.

In order to help keep you informed about the pro-worker research, writing, and activism of scholars around the country, the AFL-CIO has started an electronic mailing list. Subscribers will receive periodic email messages with information that is pertinent to our ongoing efforts to create jobs in the United States, uphold workers’ rights, and educate the public about the actual roots of the jobs crisis. Messages will come from Dan Marschall, the Federation’s policy specialist for workforce issues. Dan is a professorial lecturer in Sociology at George Washington University in Washington, DC. If you have any ideas about the mailing list, or would like to propose other subscribers, you can reach Dan at dmarscha@aflcio.org. If you would like to opt out of this mailing list, you may use the “click here to unsubscribe” line at the bottom of this message.

College faculty members and students have been vocal in their support for workers’ rights. In March, for example, American Rights at Work released a petition signed by 849 scholars and university research staff that points out that the rights to organize and bargain collectively are human rights that must not be abridged. In May, more than 80 prominent Catholic scholars challenged conservative Congressional budget policies that eliminate protections for vulnerable families. In addition, more than 2,300 academics and faculty members have signed an “Open Letter in Support of University of Wisconsin Students, Faculty and Staff” that backs the rights of all workers to form unions and bargain collectively. The Wisconsin letter is still available online at http://www.petitiononline.com/taa2010/.

We hope that this new mailing list will enhance communication among scholars across disciplines on various current issues and public policy debates. We look forward to your thoughts on the material we send to you.

Sincerely,
Richard L. Trumka
President, AFL-CIO