Ray Langsten, president, AAUP AUC, langsten@aucegypt.edu
AAUP, AUC Chapter – Letter of Support for UK’s University and College Union
Cairo, Egypt (Tuesday, March 6, 2018)
Members of the University and College Union (UCU) in the UK have voted overwhelmingly (88%) to take strike action, and action short of a strike action starting February 22nd, 2018.
These actions are to protect the staff’s well-earned right for a decent retirement. Employers want to end the guaranteed pension benefits, so that it becomes dependent on the performance of the investments as opposed to the staff’s contributions. The following is our letter of solidarity with our fellow colleagues in universities and colleges in the UK.
On behalf of the American University in Cairo (AUC) Chapter of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), we send our utmost solidarity to all staff members who have chosen to take strike action. We know that you would rather be teaching than picketing in this cold weather, but the employers forced these conditions upon you. We also know that this is part of the broader attack on higher education manifested in the cutting of funds and the increasing precariousness of labour at universities and colleges. We are inspired by the scale and strength of the strike. And we know that this strike will have a much broader impact as we all face the neoliberalization of the university.
In solidarity,
AUC Chapter, AAUP
The AAUP (the American Association of University Professors) chapter at AUC is one of over 450 campus chapters in the United States and in the Middle East. Since the inception of our chapter in May 2013, we have advocated for a meaningful faculty role in AUC’s governance and direction.
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AUC's AAUP chapter website 