Release from South Sound General Education Union IWW

February 15, 2019

On November 7, 2018, the Industrial Workers of the World South Sound General Education Union delivered a demand letter to the administration of the Evergreen State College calling for:

• The immediate end to the hiring process of another campus police officer
• The immediate hiring of two full-time positions, one in Political Economy and one in Arts (either Theater or Photography)

As of today, we are now proud to announce that Evergreen’s administration appears to be meeting our demands. A campus police position vacated in 2018 will no longer be filled, and although the hiring processes are obfuscated by university bureaucracy, we have it on good authority that new positions have been opened in Political Economy and Community Media. We extend our thanks to all the fellow workers and comrades who joined us in solidarity over the past three months. Furthermore, we call upon you to join us in vigilance, to make sure that the administration does not fall back into their old ways. If they do, we will be ready to resume our campaign until these demands are met.

The South Sound General Education Union continues to fight for popular control of educational institutions—not control by donors and the employing class, under whatever name they may go by. The police, acting as the military arm of the international program of austerity, have no place on this or any campus. A program of cuts and belt-tightening is the first prescription in a course of bad medicine, too often followed up by union-busting, political repression, and privatization.

We call on all members of the campus and surrounding community of the Evergreen State College to join us in a victory social on Wednesday, February 27th, to celebrate our victory and build towards our next steps. Location and time to be announced.

Solidarity Forever!