Petition to Support OPEIU's Student Workers Right to Peacefully Protest

Students and student workers protesting at Emerson College.

As a local with many student workers who have decided to collectively organize with OPEIU, we recognize the responsibility of continuing the struggle for civil rights which the Labor movement has long championed.

OPEIU Local 153's ranks have grown significantly in the past years, encompassing not just student workers but also other members of communities at 11 colleges/universities. The local believes that any adverse or disciplinary action taken against student workers, students - or any members of college/university communities - for exercising their civil rights to free speech, peaceful assembly and protest is wholly incongruent with the values of the labor movement and is antagonistic to social justice and the critical thinking, open exchange of ideas, debate and dialogue that the world of academia alleges to value. We condemn the police brutality that has taken place on our campuses and the endorsement of this violence by the administrations that solicited it. We remain committed to our values of unifying and building our communities and remain driven in our  pursuit of justice for members of our union and all that share our campus communities.

We employ our collective voice as union members and believe that all people should be free to engage in peaceful expression of shared values without the employers and administrators imposing oppressive restrictions or soliciting police violence in an effort to silence voices.

We the undersigned OPEIU workers and allies demand that no college or university takes punitive action against OPEIU members or any peaceful demonstrators. Furthermore, we demand these institutions agree to codify - in collective bargaining agreements - robust civil rights protections for all community members that choose to engage in peaceful protest.