On August 30, teachers and university workers represented by both AFSCME Local 1723 and the Temple Association of University Professionals Local 4531 will stage a demonstration picket outside the convocation ceremony in protest of the refusal of the university administration to negotiate a new labor contract.  The actions of the school administration can be summarized thusly: the deprecation of education through the diversion of funds away from actual education and into the pockets of the already wealthy school bureaucrats.

The administration recently spent large sums of money to hire high-priced lawyers in order to bust the unions.  Those unions that represent the health workers at the university complained that the administration is threatening layoffs, a reduction in staffing, and the slashing of long-standing benefits.  This, however, has not stopped the officials from increasing their own salaries at the expense of the well-being of faculty and other employees – not to mention the reduced overall quality of education affecting the student population.

This is a battle that the rank-and-file workers and educators at Temple University should not be forced to fight on their own.  It is imperative that all those forces that are currently struggling for workers’ rights, for quality education, etc, come out to support this initiative.  The student body at large must come out in support of the demands of the faculty and staff, linking their demands with the demands of the teachers, health, and other workers(i.e., the cancellation of all student debt and for free fully-funded higher education paid for by taxing the super rich and the multi-national corporations.)

It is in the interests of all these forces that they unite in common struggle against cutbacks, layoffs, increased tuition rates, etc, in order to secure a better existence and education for teachers, university employees, and students.  Their struggle and the fight for the democratization of education throughout the university system and every school level more generally, is the fight of all those who desire a better life for each one of us.

The removal of all bureaucratic school administrators along with the demand an creation of democratic organizations of students, teachers, and staff workers to decide effectively how education should be conducted throughout every school in the United States, is what must result from this and similar future struggles.  This method is the only potential way to ensure all the component parts that make up the education system can prosper, and, thus, facilitate the expansion of developing young minds to their greatest potential.