I have been a higher education worker for a decade. My workplaces have encompassed an admissions office, department of student activities, aquarium, and numerous classrooms and laboratories across a SLAC and two R1 institutions. What these diverse spaces have in common is that (whether intentionally or unintentionally) they exploit workers. But when workers organize, make a raucous, and reclaim their collective power, conditions can improve.

For example, during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, it became abundantly clear that UNC had no realistic plan to keep its workers and students safe. Housekeepers and other frontline workers were given one surgical mask per week. Instructors were initially told they would have to teach in person. Our NC Public Service Workers Union's (UE 150) Safe Jobs Save Lives campaign demanded better. As a rank-and-file member, I saw a unique opportunity to unite workers across the UNC System campuses---from housekeepers to graduate workers and faculty---to fight for pandemic workplace safety, and thus formed the Workers of UNC Coalition. Together, we won. For example, I was a lead plaintiff on a class-action lawsuit against the UNC System for failing to uphold their non-delegable duty to provide us with a safe workplace. We forced UNC administrators to procure ample PPE, and won the ability for all workers who can perform their duties from home the choice to do so.