The executive board of the Wayne Academic Union AAUP-AFT Local 6075, which represents more than 1600 Wayne State faculty and academic staff, released a statement in support of a ceasefire in Gaza on Monday.
“We condemn all forms of racism and oppression including antisemitism, hatred of people of Jewish or Arab descent, Islamophobia, and the use of hate speech,” the statement reads. “Wayne Academic Union supports an immediate ceasefire and the provision of water, fuel, food, and other aid to Gaza. A lasting peace must be negotiated based on international law and respect for human rights.”
WAU also invited supportive members to add their names to a labor movement petition for a ceasefire in Israel and Palestine. As of Thursday evening, 3,212 individual U.S. labor movement members and 70 unions signed the petition.
Hayg Oshagan, Ph.D., who was on the union’s executive board for 10 years and is currently on the bargaining team, said unions have a role to play in struggles against injustice.
“Unions aren’t simply contract bargaining agents, but are part of the broader struggle against injustice and oppression of workers and people,” Oshagan said. “We cannot be concerned with only our issues at WSU and stay silent when we see others’ struggles. Whether one agrees or disagrees with the text, statements and actions are part of the moral responsibility we share when we join the struggle for worker and human rights.”
The WAU statement joins a worldwide movement calling for a ceasefire. On Tuesday, 153 nations in the U.N. General Assembly voted to demand an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, CNN reported. The U.S. vetoed a resolution by the Security Council on Dec. 8, AP reported, and was one of 10 countries who voted against yesterday’s resolution.
WAU is one of many groups on WSU’s campus, including Students for Justice in Palestine, Student Senate, the Yemeni Student Association, Multi-Cultural Association and Black Student Union, who have spoken out about the Israel-Palestine conflict.
“Wayne Academic Union supports the rights of students, staff, and faculty to express their opinions, even on controversial issues, without fear of retribution or intimidation,” WAU’s statement said.
Student Senate passed a Boycott, Divest, Sanction Resolution on Nov. 2, and student groups and members of the WSU community have been demanding a public University response and divestment from war profiting companies in Israel ever since.
At the WSU Board of Governors meeting on Thursday, WSU student Zeinab Alghanem asked the BOG to think about the impact of its decisions.
“They (the Palestinian people killed in conflict) resemble the people you represent and you play a role in that. If fate placed me or anybody else, you or your children, in those circumstances, you would want me standing here today asking for your intercession,” Alghanem said. “You are at a crossroads and you have to think about this. What role do you want to play?”
The BOG did respond to Senate’s resolution and said it is not able to change its investment strategy at this time, The South End reported on Sunday.
Oshagan said this spring 2024 bargaining season the WAU hopes to bargain beyond the needs of just the union members. “Bargaining for the common good” would advocate to support students and the WSU community through contractual agreements between the union and administration, he said.
“We live in an environment that has a lot of needs, and a lot of our students have a lot of needs as well,” Oshagan said. “They don’t have anyone that really advocates for them in that sense; there’s no union. But we as faculty and academic staff see all of this because we interact with students. They come to us with issues and so, so we need to be on top of it.”
Oshagan said examples of this could be setting aside a fund to help students with homelessness, transportation and food insecurity issues, making sure facilities are well maintained, or diversity training for administration, faculty and staff.
“We could have this as an initiative to do something, but if it’s in the contract, then it’s an agreement between administration and us that this is what’s going to happen, this is what you are going to, you’ll put this much aside to create these programs for these purposes.”
There are fourteen unions on campus, the first of which appeared in 1935. Oshagan said there is power in numbers.
“People see the benefits of unions, so we’ve stayed strong,” Oshagan said. “And I think will stay strong, especially nowadays… with the culture changing a bit it seems more people are pro union… People understand the benefits of having someone at your back, you know, someone who was can speak louder and with more force.”
Cover photo of WSU’s campus by Natalie Davies.
Natalie Davies 