As the semester winds down and students retreat to their classrooms and studies, is a good time to reflect on the struggles that young people are facing and our willingness to fight back and demand a real change in the system that will protect young people in this fragile economy.
Last week AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Liz Shuler posted a blog on the Huffington Post about the dire situation of young workers and the AFL-CIO’s proposed five point initial steps to support workers in this economy. In these steps, you can see the immediate connection to the current work that students nationwide are engaged in against budget cuts and layoffs. Two points in the AFL-CIO’s plan for addressing the jobs crisis speak directly to the needs and demands that we have been pushing for in the student movement.
Rebuild America’s schools, roads and energy systems and invest in green technology and green jobs. Increase aid to state and local governments to maintain vital services.
It is not surprising that the labor movement and the student movement see the same problems and solutions. We share the need to fight back against the corporatization of our lives and for a real change in the current economic system we live in.
Students have seen the effects of the economic crisis firsthand at the statewide level. California has become a battlefield for the need to prioritize higher education in our states. It is not acceptable that students and workers are beaten because they just want the possibility of an education and for workers the need for good jobs.
This is a pivotal movement for students and youth to rise up to the occasion and begin preparing the for spring semester: a semester filled with action and struggle; a semester where we will see who is on our side.
If decision makers continue to believe that they can privatize our education and put the burden of debt on the backs of students and workers, they will see very soon that students have had enough. The organizing that has been building over the past decades will bring strength to the student movement. Students in coalition with the labor movement are poised to become a major force of change in this country.
Soon, we will be unveiling a national campaign to fight budget cuts and layoffs and propose a national strategy for youth and students.
Potential demands include:
- Full funding of higher education on the state and federal level
- That people who are affected by the problem - students, staff and faculty - become part of the decision making process
- Funding of the states by the federal government with the promise of having a minimum percentage of those funds allocated for higher education
- Passage of legislation that supports and leads to the full funding of higher education such as Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility act.
- Jobs with justice
- Passage of the Employee Free Choice Act and a comprehensive federal jobs program
For now, we will be reflecting on our work and planning for the future. If you are interested in becoming part of the movement check out our organizing kit to fight budget cuts and layoffs and sign up at www.studentlabor.org to learn more about our campaigns.
