ABSTRACT
I want to tell the story of CFA precisely because it offers important lessons for the academic labor movement now getting off the ground. We’ve heard about graduate students organizing (in my home state, one of the biggest and most successful drives took place at the University of California-Berkeley). We’ve also heard about struggles among adjunct faculty at numerous institutions. Our struggle is distinct in that it attempts to create one big union that can address concerns faced by a broad range of employees. We have also tried to move beyond contract negotiations by bringing our message to California’s citizens more broadly. We do this because we are convinced that we stand at an opportune moment in history-a time when a democratic vision of higher education must be articulated by academic labor activists.
