CUNY contingent workers in the Adjunct Project drafted this solidarity letter:

To Our Fellow Graduate Students, Students, Professors, Teachers, Workers and Protestors in Wisconsin,

Education workers and students of Wisconsin, you are not alone. The Adjunct Project, the organization that works on behalf of contingent workers of the City University of New York, stands with you in your protests.

Wisconsin has historically been a home of leaders of the labor movement. This week, your protests proves that you are still more than worthy of that legacy. When faced with a bill that would destroy the ability of working people to protect themselves — for that is what Governor Scott Walker’s so-called ‘budget-repair bill’ would do — you have stood up and said ‘no’. We in New York say ‘no’ with you!

This attack on the power of educators and students in Wisconsin is, unfortunately, one of many attacks on working peoples around the country. Here in New York we face governor Andrew Cuomo’s openly-stated antagonism to unions in addition to bearing the injuries of past attacks, such as the New York state Taylor Law, which prohibits the use of strikes by public sector unions.

But the Wisconsin education strike, founded on the unity between educators and students and between educators and other workers, shows that education cannot go forward when educators and public workers are threatened.

Our struggles for a decent workplace and schools, in which students can get the best education and which encourages teachers and professors to teach to the best of their abilities, are deeply interconnected despite the miles between us. While this vision may now seem far off, it is not beyond our grasp; to get there we will need to support and learn from each other.

Educators, workers and students of Wisconsin: keep on fighting and you will win!

In Solidarity,

The Adjunct Project of the City University of New York