Layoffs at KSU: We need you in this fight

The following guest post was written by a worker on our campus.

Twelve years ago, at the height of a crippling recession brought about by greedy bankers and financiers, I lost my job at the community college where I’d worked for ten years. The pain of this life-altering event is still with me today. Not only had I lost my livelihood, but I also lost a big piece of my identity and self-worth that was inextricably wrapped up in the work I was doing and the friendships I’d forged over the years. No one fought for me then.

Now there are at least 24 souls at Kennesaw State University that we know of, and likely others that we don’t, who are facing this same devastation. We have to fight for them. We can’t let the trials of this pandemic overshadow the senseless damage being inflicted on our own. Senseless because the means to save their jobs is right here at hand in the bloated salaries of our highest paid administrators. “Chop from the top” is not just a catchy slogan. It’s the answer to the question: “How do we protect those people who have devoted their time and energy to keeping KSU going?” Because we know it won’t stop with these 24 souls. The situation we find ourselves in will only worsen. And it's not the only answer. KSU has resources. Cutting staff is least creative and most cruel option among several others.

If you teach at KSU, if you advise students, if you keep classrooms clean and sanitary, if you feed students and workers, if you ring up purchases in the bookstore -- however you keep KSU going, we need you in this fight. We need your numbers to put pressure on our leadership because we know they won’t do the right thing voluntarily. This is a fight for jobs, for dignity, for a seat at the table and a say in creating the university we want – not the university being forced upon us. 

Start here: https://www.ucwga.com/join-united-campus-workers-georgia Get on our mailing list. Send us an email with your questions and concerns at KSUworkers@gmail.com. Come to a meeting. There are so many ways to get involved. Now is the perfect time.