Our Story
1930
WSU AAUP Advocacy Chapter forms
Faculty members form the Wayne State University Chapter of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) in the fall of 1930. In its early years, the AAUP’s chief focus was fighting for a faculty role in university governance.
1965
Michigan Public Employment Relations Act (PERA) passes
With the passage of PERA, the Michigan state legislature grants collective bargaining rights to public employees.
1970
WSU’s first unionization campaign
WSU faculty and academic staff begin an organizing campaign to unionize the campus.
1972
WSU AAUP Union forms
In January, university administrators send termination letters to 282 untenured faculty and academic staff members. Two months later, faculty and academic staff vote to form a union. AAUP wins the right to represent the unionized faculty and academic staff and the WSU AAUP advocacy chapter becomes a bargaining unit chapter.
1973
WSU AAUP wins first contract
1978
Strike!
WSU AAUP members go on strike for the first time, ultimately winning wage increases and better benefits, equal pensions for men and women, and improvements to promotion and tenure.
1988
Strike!
WSU AAUP members go on strike for 11 days to protect wage gains, job security, and shared governance.
1990–1994
Union win job security for academic staff
WSU AAUP members go on strike in 1990 and 1994 to secure better contracts and win employment security status (ESS) for academic staff.
1998
AAUP-AFT Local 6075 forms
To secure resources for organizing and gain political influence, WSU AAUP members vote to affiliate with the American Federation of Teachers (AFT).
1999
One-day strike wins agency fee
As new members of the AFT, the union is now a part of the AFL-CIO. Faculty and academic staff go on strike, causing a disruption in the construction of the Law School building as union workers refuse to cross the picket line. The union wins agency fee and AAUP-AFT membership triples.
2012
Michigan becomes a “right-to-work” state
The state enacts legislation (so-called “right to work”) that prohibits union membership or payments to a union as a condition of employment. Although agency fee is no longer in place, membership in WSU AAUP-AFT remains strong.
2018
Supreme Court rules against public employee unions
The Supreme Court rules in the case of Janus vs. AFSCME to prohibit union membership or payments to a union as a condition of employment at public institutions, such as WSU.
2021
Union wins job security for teaching faculty
Full-time, non-tenure-track “lecturers” are reclassified as Teaching Faculty and gain the possibility of job security.
2023
Michigan repeals right-to-work
Full-time, non-tenure-track “lecturers” are reclassified as Teaching Faculty and gain the possibility of job security.
Today
We are WAU
To better reflect the range of jobs held by represented employees, in 2023 the union begins styling itself as Wayne Academic Union (WAU). WAU continues its nearly 100-year history of protecting academic freedom and pursuing shared governance, and its more than fifty-year history of negotiating fair and equitable working conditions for its members. As higher ed is systematically defunded, WAU has become more involved in the national battle to save public universities and make a college education affordable for everyone who wants one.