Helen Gym was joined yesterday by prominent leaders, organizers, and activists representing a growing wave of labor organizing in Philadelphia, speaking to Helen’s leadership and vision for affordable and accessible higher education for all at the Winnet Courtyard Community College of Philadelphia.

Addressing the six-week-long strike that won Temple University Graduate Students’ Association (TUGSA) members wage increase and better healthcare benefits was Bethany Kosmicki, former president and a member of the negotiating team, who said, “It should not have taken us going on strike for six weeks to win basic dignities for ourselves and our families,” adding that “it was necessary because Temple is run by an upper administration that does not place value on supporting the workers who provide quality education.” 

Yesterday, the Inquirer reported that “about 81% of the more than 1,000 faculty members who voted endorsed a no-confidence measure in both Provost Gregory N. Mandel and trustees board chair Mitchell Morgan,” the union’s first vote of no-confidence in its 50-year history. 

“These are the people ultimately responsible for the direction that the university has taken in recent years: job cuts, increased tuition, plummeting rankings, and floundering reputation,” Bethany assured the crowd. “What is happening at Temple is a symptom of a broader range of attacks on public education in this state. These attacks come from off-campus in the form of anti-education politicians who actively want to cut funding and resources for colleges and universities, and from on campus in the form of administrators whose only goal is to corporatize higher education and devalue its workers and students.” 

Kosmicki emphasized the power unions hold in protecting “education from those seeking to destroy it,” a sentiment echoed by Jeffrey Doshna, president of the Temple Association of University Professionals (TAUP), who explained, “You need somebody who knows what it is to be an educator in the most important position in Philadelphia. And I’m very proud to say that our union just last week formally endorsed Helen Gym as our candidate in the primary because we know that what Bethany just talked about with TUGSA and Temple, that’s our fight next.” 

Doshna also reiterated that “we know how important it is to have an advocate, a teacher who recognizes the importance of public education and the right of all of us within labor unions to organize, to fight, and to demand what we are entitled to in every single contract and every single day.” 

Charis B. Duke, a coach accompanist for the Musical Theater program at the University of the Arts (UArts), is currently undertaking—teaching five classes every week, private lessons to 34 students, and accompanying five hours of theater classes. She notes having more contact hours with students than any other theater faculty, yet UArts considers her a part-time staff. 

“Part-time staff at UArts have no benefits,” Duke explained, who unfortunately sprained her ankle three weeks ago and was advised by a physician to take a week off. However, she took three days off because she does not have sick leave as a part-time employee. 

“Teaching is a passion. We love our students. We love our colleagues and the work that we do,” she assured. “But that passion is not going to pay my medical bills.”

A list of leaders and members of the following unions joined Helen Gym: 

• Faculty and Staff Federation of Community College of Philadelphia (FSFCCP) Local AFT2026; 
• Temple Association of University Professionals (TAUP); 
• Please Touch Museum (PTM) United;
• AFSCME Local 397, which represents the Philadelphia Museum of Art workers; 
• United Academics of Philadelphia Local 9608 of AFT, which represents UArts and Arcadia University staff and faculty; 
• Philadelphia Federation of Teachers;
• Temple University Graduate Students’ Association (TUGSA); and more.