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Higher education staff in Colorado deserve collective bargaining. While state workers were given the right to collective bargaining in 2020, most public employees, including the faculty and staff at Colorado’s state colleges and universities, still do not have that right.

It’s about students. Collective bargaining rights give faculty and staff the ability to  advocate for students at the bargaining table and beyond without fear of retaliation by the employer. This gives them a protected voice on key issues, from pushing back against skyrocketing tuition and fees, to fighting for better pandemic safety on campus,2 to taking bold steps to cut the overwhelming burden of student debt.3

It’s about the quality of a Colorado education. Unions don’t just negotiate pay  and benefits. They work to achieve the promise and purpose of our public higher  education system—to help students succeed and thrive. Unions can serve as quality  watchdogs and social justice advocates, by, for example, fighting program cuts4 and  raising awareness to address student poverty and food insecurity.5

It’s about better-run colleges and universities. Unions have helped colleges  spend more wisely, whether working with management to save on healthcare  benefits6 or urging caution before administrators waste money on outside contractors.7 Numerous studies have concluded that collective bargaining agreements  improve effectiveness and efficiency.8,9

It’s about accountability. College administrators need to remember that they serve  the people of Colorado and the students and families who choose our schools. Unions  work in coalitions to give not just faculty and staff, but also students, parents and  communities, a voice in decision-making and the power to raise issues in the media,  the Statehouse and other public forums.

It’s about doing the right thing for poverty-level adjunct faculty. Adjuncts (nontenure-track faculty) teach a substantial share of classes in Colorado colleges and  universities—in fact they account for 73 percent of instructors at the 13 colleges in  the Colorado Community College System10—and are paid less than half what full time community college instructors receive for teaching the same class loads.11 Most  adjuncts work without benefits, sick leave or job security, despite the majority holding  the same credentials as full-time faculty.12

It’s about Colorado’s economy. Public colleges and universities are key economic  drivers for their communities.13 What’s more, federal education dollars invested  in higher education have a proven multiplier effect that increases local income by  2.4 percent for every 1 percent in federal grant dollars.14 So we can’t afford to let  the quality or reputation of Colorado schools decline. But that will happen if the  instructional workforce increasingly becomes poorly paid, ill-treated temps.