Employees of the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) are attempting to organize the first-ever labor union on campus.
The “wall-to-wall” union, according to the Daily Mississippian, accepts the membership of anyone who receives a paycheck from Ole Miss.
One of the leading organizers is Assistant Professor James Thomas, who recently sparked controversy by encouraging the public to harass senators during the Kavanaugh confirmation.
The union is a chapter of United Campus Workers, which is a labor union group that originated from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville campus. It falls under the purview of its national organization, Communication Workers of America.
The article also stated that one of the goals of the union was to resolve misconceptions about “right-to-work” states.
Mississippi is an “at-will” state, meaning that without a contract, an employer can fire an “at-will” employee for any non-discriminatory reason, whether there is a union or not. Mississippi employees are allowed to join unions if one is present at their place of employment. However, it is not required.
In the case of termination of a union employee, the union could bargain for the employee, but at its core, “at-will” policies still apply.
The UCW chapter at Ole Miss is still in its beginning stages. It has yet to adopt a formal platform other than having issues heard and discussed.
Courtney Ingle
