How Does It Work?
Because Kentucky has weak labor laws, we are building our union through deep organizing to win real change. At UofL, that means building a powerful, member-led movement with the resources needed to run effective campaigns and bring majorities of our coworkers into action!
To win the big changes we want to see at UofL, we are building a leadership structure called an Organizing Committee (OC)—a team made up of workers from across job classes who come together to learn organizing skills and lead campaigns. Any worker on campus can join and be part of building our union! In fact, the more of us who get involved and take part in organizing our coworkers, the stronger our union will be to fight for the changes we want to see at UofL!
Every UCW member contributes a small monthly amount in dues to ensure our union has the resources to fight and win. By pooling our resources, we build the power to act independently of university administrations and push for change in ways other campus bodies can’t. Member dues fund everything from lobby trips to Frankfort to full-time organizers who support our campaigns and help us build power on campus.
To learn more, check out our website and Instagram, or reach out to us at ucwky@ucw-cwa.org to talk with a member of our Organizing Committee!
We know that organizing works and that UofL leadership responds when workers and students put pressure on them. Our plan to win involves 3 key pillars. 1. Building a strong base of dues paying members that are active in the union and take on leadership in our organizing committee ( the team of grad workers who do outreach to their coworkers, plan actions, and set the strategy of the campaign). 2. Research our decision-makers and understand the decision-making structure at UofL to understand where we can have influence. 3. Through the information we learn via researching power holders at UofL and building a strong base of union grad workers we take escalating action towards our decision-makers to get them to agree to our demands.
Petition follow up text
Hi, is this [their name]? Hi [their name], my name is [your name] and I am a fellow Grad worker at UoL and one of the leaders of our union campaign. We’re calling folks who signed our living wage petition to learn why you signed the petition and talk about more ways you can get involved in organizing around this issue – how are you doing?
Canvass follow up text
“Hi, [their name], this is [your name]. I am a [your job] at UofL and a member of your union here on campus, United Campus Workers. You connected with somebody for the union earlier this week during orientation, and indicated on the sign-up form that you were interested in joining, so I am calling to follow-up with you about that and talk you through what it would look like to officially become a union member. Do you have some time to talk right now?”
New join follow up text
Hi, [their name], this is [your name]. I’m a staff organizer with United Campus Workers!
I’m reaching out to welcome you to UCW and to learn more about what brought you to your union!
Do you have time to connect sometime soon?
Join reminder text
Hi [their name],
Just follow up with a friendly reminder about joining!
Here’s the link: ucwkentucky.org/join.
Do you think you'll be able to fill it out in the next couple days?
Hello all,
It was great to gather with so many of you last Friday for our fall social! We are so excited to continue building our union together this semester!
In the face of well-organized opposition, we’re doing the deep organizing needed to build real worker power on campus. That includes the social we held together to strengthen our relationships and trust—the foundation of all effective organizing.
We still have a lot of work ahead to realize our vision of higher education as a common good. Right now, we're building our structure through organized people—like our grad worker campaign—and organized money, through dues, to ensure we have the resources to fight back against threats to our jobs and universities, just like we did with HB 4.
Here’s ways to get more involved in your union:
Join UCW!
Grad worker open leadership meeting
This Thursday at 5 pm on Zoom. Grad workers are meeting to continue planning our living wage campaign and strategy around our path to building grad worker power this semester. RSVP here!
UCW’s Campus Justice Coalition (CJC) upcoming actions:
CJC is a UCW cross job class and student campaign focused on pushing back against regressive university actions accelerated by HB4.
CJC Action Call on September 18th at 7 pm on Zoom
Join fellow campus workers and students to build our plan to win, weigh in on our demands and help us build for upcoming actions! RSVP here!
CJC Campaign Kick Off on October 9th at 7 pm on Zoom
Join us to publicly launch our campaign! RSVP here!
United Campus Workers 101 Training: Organizing Basics
In this 75 minute training, we will review and discuss some of the fundamentals that guide our United Campus Workers organizing strategy, and leave with next steps for applying these fundamentals on their campus and in their workplace. Any and all United Campus Workers members are encouraged to attend. RSVP here!
PS: Our next social will be on October 11 at Joe Creason Park! More details to follow!
Fellow campus workers,
We, the United Campus Workers-CWA staff Organizing Committee at UofL, want to know what is important to you. What is your vision for our workplace? Since 2021, we’ve been assembling and organizing a network of staff, faculty, and student workers. Our vision has always been to support each other and make concrete improvements to our living and working conditions.
What are your top priorities for UofL? Where can we take action together that matters the most? Please take a couple minutes to fill out our Issue Survey. Your personal information is kept confidential, and your input is only shared with your consent. We want to hear from as many UofL communities and labor departments as possible, so please share the link https://tinyurl.com/UCW-UofL. Your union is for all, so we should hear from all!
Click here to take our survey!
Ready to get involved right now?
Join your union! The more of us involved, the stronger we will be!
United Campus Workers 101 Training: Organizing Basics
In this 75 minute training, we will review and discuss some of the fundamentals that guide our United Campus Workers organizing strategy, and leave with next steps for applying these fundamentals on their campus and in their workplace. Any and all United Campus Workers members are encouraged to attend. RSVP here!
Join us at our next social on October 11 at Joe Creason Park! Rsvp here!
How Does It Work?
Because Kentucky has weak labor laws, we are building our union through deep organizing to win real change. At UofL, that means building a powerful, member-led movement with the resources needed to run effective campaigns and bring majorities of our coworkers into action!
To win the big changes we want to see at UofL, we are building a leadership structure called an Organizing Committee (OC)—a team made up of workers from across job classes who come together to learn organizing skills and lead campaigns. Any worker on campus can join and be part of building our union! In fact, the more of us who get involved and take part in organizing our coworkers, the stronger our union will be to fight for the changes we want to see at UofL!
Every UCW member contributes a small monthly amount in dues to ensure our union has the resources to fight and win. By pooling our resources, we build the power to act independently of university administrations and push for change in ways other campus bodies can’t. Member dues fund everything from lobby trips to Frankfort to full-time organizers who support our campaigns and help us build power on campus.
To learn more, check out our website and Instagram, or reach out to us at ucwky@ucw-cwa.org to talk with a member of our Organizing Committee!
In solidarity,
The United Campus Workers–UofL Staff Worker Organizing CommitteeSample Survey