United Campus Workers at VCU is committed to a shared fight for economic and education justice on VCU’s campus. We believe all workers have a right to fair wages and dignified working conditions. We believe all of our students have a right to accessible, enriching education that prioritizes just outcomes for our learning community.
VCU was formed through a merger of institutions (the Medical College of Virginia and the Richmond Professional Institute) in the hopes that a centrally-located public university would benefit all residents of our state’s capital. Our institution’s founding goals were to create a pathway to a better life for everyday Richmonders, and to expand the reach of high-quality public education beyond the prestige institutions built by the state’s founding political leadership. Our members work to advance this vision of our university as a home for academic excellence and a place to uplift our community through sustainable, just employment.
A university-wide adjunct organizing committee launched demands for just working conditions in January of 2021 through a petition that earned over 1300 signatures from VCU stakeholders and Richmond community members in the month following. That committee voted to unionize in March of 2021, and our union went public in April of 2021. Today our union maintains membership of all work categories in Departments and units across VCU. We have active organizing committees across the university that recruit, train, and organize our workforce in service of more just stewardship of our public resources.
Our workers are our union! Our membership includes staff, medical workers, undergraduate and graduate student workers, and faculty of all levels.
Want to find out more? Contact a VCU organizer using the form below.
