Opinion: Brené Brown – Join Our Union and Take Another Principled Stand
Union organizers argue the UT administration remains beholden to a political leadership that regularly dismisses students’ and workers’ concerns
By Sol Weiner, Fri., March 4, 2022
Dear Brené Brown,
We, the UT-Austin Organizing Committee of the Texas State Employees Union (TSEU), thank you for continuing to speak truth to power. We applaud your recent decision to pause production of your podcast in response to COVID misinformation on Spotify. As you wrote, "I paused because [...] I wanted to better understand the organization's misinformation policy. I wanted to talk to the Spotify leadership about their position [and] their policies."
As the labor union for all state employees, we identify with your courageous expression. We, too, have been fighting to be heard by our leadership. Whether it's COVID safety or working conditions generally, both Texas' and UT's supposed leaders have consistently shrunk from the task at hand. Regardless of what else divides us, Texans can agree that everybody deserves a safe workplace and education.
In 2020 our union formed a coalition of student, staff, and faculty organizations that circulated petitions with thousands of signatures demanding COVID precautions on campus – specifically vaccine and mask mandates and hazard pay. Members testified to the UT System Board of Regents for the urgent need for safety measures. We invited President Hartzell to sit down with us to discuss our concerns.
Despite our efforts, he and other administrators refused to meet with us and the university is back to in-person teaching – with no requirement for masks or vaccinations – despite our concerns.
As a graduate of our university and now our colleague, we hope you understand that, particularly during this pandemic, we've been overlooked, overworked, and underpaid. Turnover is at a fever pitch and our offices are severely understaffed. There are workers at UT who barely make a living wage, if that. And not only are we burned out – we're frustrated that, given the UT System's $30 billion-plus endowment, our administration has not provided consistent hazard pay for workers, tuition remission for all students, and assistance to the wider Austin community.
We're asking you to honor your commitment to "never stop sharing" your opinions and beliefs and your role at UT to join with other employees and students organizing for change. There is power in numbers, and we know that your own personal history with labor unions has shown you that when we fight together, we win. The UT administration remains beholden to a political leadership that regularly dismisses students' and workers' concerns. Maybe you can teach UT leadership a little bit about being courageous?
Brené, will you join our union, speak up, and organize for workplace justice?
Sol Weiner is an organizer at the UT-Austin chapter of the Texas State Employees Union (CWA 6186), the labor union for all state of Texas employees. The UT union local has nearly 500 members – undergraduate and graduate student workers, staff, and faculty.
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