“I believe strongly in the right of workers to organize a union to improve their pay and working conditions, and I fully support the staff members at Duke University Press as they seek to form a local of the News Guild.”

Steve Schewel
Mayor, City of Durham
Duke ’73 (BA) and ’82 (PhD)

“I’m thrilled to express my support for the workers at Duke University Press who have chosen to exercise their collective power by forming a union. Unions are the only way workers can guarantee that they will have a voice on the job and the power to shape their working conditions. In times of economic and social crisis, it is even more critical that workers have the freedom to organize and that employers respect and support the efforts of worker organizations. I urge my alma mater, Duke University, and the management of Duke Press to support the will of the majority of their workers by recognizing the Duke University Press Workers Union and negotiating in good faith with union representatives. Congratulations to Duke University Press workers for taking this historic step toward building a better workplace and a better university!”

Jillian Johnson
Trinity ’03
Mayor Pro Tempore, City of Durham

“I'm proud to stand with the Duke University Press Workers Union as they organize for better working conditions and higher wages. By forming a union, DUP workers can speak with one voice in their negotiations with Duke University and Duke University Press. And as they are successful in negotiating for higher wages and better benefits, the city of Durham will be the better for their efforts.”

Charlie Reece
Member, Durham City Council

“As a member of Durham City Council, I am in full support of the DUP Workers Union. Strong unions are an essential way for workers to have a voice and ensure equity in their workplace, and I am proud of the Duke University Press staff for taking this important step. I urge the Duke administration to begin negotiating with the DUP Workers Union.”

Javiera Caballero
Member, Durham City Council

“I am proud and in awe of the strength and resilience of the Duke University Press Workers Union. By coming together, they are proving once again that unity in organizing is the workers’ greatest asset. Workers are fighting for the conditions and wages that they deserve. Labor organizing will leave an impact beyond the Duke press room; the people of Durham County as a whole will benefit from their work. Duke Press Union, thank you.”

Nida Allam
Durham County Commissioner

“Every day, publishers work hard to bring new stories, new research, and new voices to readers across the world. In all cases, we’ve found that the work of publishing is made stronger and more meaningful when the people acquiring, editing, designing, printing, promoting, and distributing those books have a voice too. We support the Duke University Press Workers Union because we believe that all workers benefit from being able to make decisions about their professional lives. Not only is this empowering, but it’s forward thinking, establishing loud and clear that equity, fair working conditions, and open communication in the workplace are values that the Duke University community will champion as part of its commitment to ‘learning, freedom, and truth.’ The unionized workers of Harvard University Press stand in solidarity with Duke University Press Workers Union and recognize their efforts to organize. We hope that Duke University will do the same.”

Harvard University Press members of the Harvard Union of Clerical and Technical Workers

“The Durham Association of Educators wholeheartedly supports the organizing of the Duke University Press Workers Union. As workers dealing with the legacy of Jim Crow anti-union laws, we understand it is absolutely necessary for the union movement to organize the South! Duke University Press workers deserve a democratic workplace free from discrimination based on race and sexual identity, pay and benefits commensurate with industry experience, and fully staffed departments. These cannot be won through appealing to the goodwill of individual managers—they can only be won by the collective power of a union.

As educators, we are invested in the flourishing of our whole community, and we know there are Durham Public School parents working at Duke University Press. Our students deserve parents who have the security, pay, and benefits of union jobs. For all these reasons and more, we stand with Duke University Press workers!

We call on the management of Duke University Press to cease the union-busting tactics, such as isolating staff to discourage their union support. These tactics are meant to keep workers divided and fearful. Dissuading workers from exercising their federally guaranteed right to organize should have no place at a press that produces some of the most progressive and emancipatory books and journals in its industry. Management should resist this urge and embrace the opportunity to meet workers at the bargaining table to build a more democratic workplace together.”

Durham Association of Educators

“The Duke Graduate Students Union stands in solidarity with the Duke University Press (DUP) Workers Union in their efforts to organize a union with the NewsGuild, a sector of the Communications Workers of America, and to initiate collective bargaining processes with Duke University.

As academics, we recognize the crucial importance of DUP to the scholarly community. The theory and research that DUP publishes and has published in monographs, journals, edited collections, and more comprises an inestimably valuable body of critical scholarship, especially in historically marginalized fields of inquiry. Not only do we dialogue with and draw upon this work as we conduct our research, writing, and teaching, but we rely (or will rely) on academic presses to disseminate our own work. It is in our collective best interest to ensure that DUP protects and supports the workers who are at the heart of this essential university press.

As academic workers ourselves, we want to be clear in acknowledging the breadth and difficulty of the labors that go into academic publishing. Publishing is an iterative, demanding, and collaborative process, one that requires intellectual, creative, logistical, administrative, and physical work. It is the expertise and effort of DUP workers across all aspects of publishing, from editing to marketing, design to distribution, that makes what DUP publishes so impactful. In the interest of both justice and scholarly excellence, the structures within which these labors take place must be accountable to the needs and aspirations of DUP workers. 

The mission of the Press is to ‘share the ideas of bold, progressive thinkers and support emerging and vital fields of scholarship.’ This mission requires that DUP workers have a full say in their labor conditions and that they be supported with the protections that a collectively bargained contract would guarantee.”

Duke Graduate Students Union

“The Verso Guild stands in solidarity with the workers of Duke University Press who have demonstrated courage and resolve in taking their decision to join a union. We celebrate their decision for many reasons but two are particularly noteworthy.

First, publishing as an industry still desperately needs worker power to resist the pressures that degrade both our conditions of work and the products of our labor. Recent industry news–from ominous mergers to the increasing squeeze from Amazon year over year–would suggest that these pressures will only magnify in the years to come. 

But the news from Duke University Press workers is doubly inspiring because it takes off in a right-to-work state. If there is any hope for a revitalized labor movement, it’ll require fighting organizations across the country but especially in the South, where they have been routed and rooted out to the benefit of employers everywhere.

We look forward to fighting alongside the workers at DUP for a new balance of power in our workplaces and a different kind of publishing. Solidarity forever!”

Verso Books Guild

“The Durham Workers' Rights Commission fully supports the workers at Duke University Press in their organizing campaign. We urge Duke University and Duke University Press management to recognize their union and enter a collective bargaining process. We endorse their campaign to improve working conditions and to help the DUP thrive.”

Durham Workers’ Rights Commission

“The Durham People’s Alliance (PA) joins in solidarity with the workers of Duke University Press who have organized to form a union. PA is a grassroots organization that has been advancing a progressive vision for Durham and our state for 45 years. On behalf of our 1,400 members, we urge Duke University Press (DUP) to voluntarily and immediately recognize the Duke University Press Workers Union, a unit of The NewsGuild, TNG-CWA Local 32035.

By recognizing the DUP Workers Union, DUP respects the right of employees to democratically form a union without interference. Duke has collective bargaining agreements with several unions on campus covering a variety of roles, from teaching to campus dining to housekeeping to transportation and more. PA hopes that Duke will do the same for the Duke University Press staff, ensuring that they can exercise their right to come together as a union and collectively bargain for the workplace improvements they’d like to see.

Duke University Press is a leader in progressive fields that have been traditionally marginalized within the academy, including Black and queer studies. We urge DUP to stand by these progressive ideals, and stand with the more than 250 DUP authors and editors who support these efforts, by recognizing the DUP Workers Union.”

Durham People’s Alliance

“The Black Workers for Justice stands in solidarity with workers at Duke University Press (DUP) who are organizing a union for fairness on the job, better working conditions, and racial justice. Similar to the struggle in Bessemer, Alabama, the struggle for a union at Duke University Press is the beginning of a renewed movement for organizing labor in the South. The efforts of DUP workers will not only transform the publishing industry and Duke University, it will have an impact on academic institutions across the country at all levels. As Black workers at Duke University continue to struggle for racial justice, we believe unions are central to fighting the racism and exploitation, and unjust firings experienced by Black workers.

We believe the DUP workers union is a positive and much needed development in North Carolina and the South. We look forward to welcoming DUP workers into our Southern Workers Assembly and having them part of our ongoing fight for racial and economic justice.”

Black Workers for Justice

“A union card is the single best tool we have to fight racial and economic inequality and to ensure dignity and due process for workers—regardless of where we were born, who we are, or what industry we work in. That is just as true in media and publishing as it is in meat packing and manufacturing. We commend the people of the Duke University Press Workers Union for exercising their freedom to join together in union so they too can know the power, protection, and hope that comes from having a union contract, and we call on Duke University to immediately recognize their union and begin collective bargaining.”

MaryBe McMillan
President, NC State AFL-CIO

“When I heard that workers at Duke University Press were unionizing, I was thrilled. Members of the DUPWU have solicited reviews for, edited, formatted, designed, published, promoted, and shipped my books for almost 20 years now. I am so grateful for what they do, not just for me, but for all the authors that have made Duke University Press such a unique and cutting-edge place. The press wouldn’t be what it is without them. They deserve better working conditions, opportunities for advancement, and a seat at the table when it is time to make decisions that affect them. I support DUPWU!”

Jonathan Sterne
Author of Duke University Press books Diminished Faculties, MP3, and The Audible Past

“Durham For All is honored to support the workers at Duke University Press in their organizing to form a union and gain collective bargaining power. We believe that workers deserve to have a voice in the decisions that shape their work community and unions are the only sustainable and equitable way for workers to gain and maintain that power.

Here at D4A we’re committed to supporting and uplifting workers’ organizing to unionize their workplaces. Our commitments is rooted in our values around economic justice and informed by our individual experiences as workers:

‘As a former worker at Duke and a founding member of the Duke Graduate Students Union, I know how important it is for workers to come together to form a strong, supportive union. Workers need a voice and a seat at the table in discussing wages and working conditions, and we build unions because we are stronger together. I wholeheartedly support the Duke University Press Workers Union and urge University administration to recognize the union and to bargain in good faith.’ —Bennett Carpenter, former Lead Organizer

‘Coming out of labor unions myself, I have an understanding of how differently workers are treated when they  are united with other voices who have similar experiences of the current work conditions rather than trying to speak up for themselves from a place of isolation. Unions set an explicit standard across the board of how pay is configured, a process that is clear of how conflict will be handled, by when and what benefits workers have access to. In order to move towards a more equitable workforce, it should not matter who you know in order to have access to good working conditions and pay. It should be a contract that is explicit and centers the wellbeing of workers. I support Duke University Press Workers Union and urge university administration to recognize their union and start the process of creating a more equitable work environment for all Duke University Press Workers.’ —Kaji Reyes, Executive Director

We urge the management of Duke University Press to recognize the Duke University Press Workers Union and enter a collective bargaining process.”

Durham For All

“We stand with the Duke Press workers who are fighting to form a union. When we have  more Durham workers who are organized and protected by unions, it makes our city a better place to live. We need to see workers unionizing all across the South! To all the powerful workers at Duke Press: Don't stop until you win your union. NC Raise Up has got your back!”

Eric Winston
Durham restaurant worker & leader, NC Raise UP

“The Elon Faculty Union leadership of adjunct professors at Elon University fully supports the efforts of Duke University Press workers in forming their union. In our careers, we have seen changes in our shared field of higher education that have marginalized workers and made more jobs insecure and underpaid. That’s why we knew coming together in a union was the best and only way to negotiate lasting improvements in our workplace: we voted for our union in March 2019. After two years of disappointing and costly legal delays by our administration, we are thrilled to be finally moving to the negotiating table as a union, with the goal of raising standards for Elon contingent faculty, our students, families, and communities.

We urge the Duke University administration and Duke Press management to stop all delays and show these workers the respect they deserve, by recognizing the DUP Workers Union and engaging in a respectful and fair collective bargaining process.”

Elon Faculty Union Organizing Committee
SEIU Workers United Southern Region, Local 32

“Duke University Press would not have become one of the nation’s leading progressive publishers without the labor of its staff workers. Many student workers in our union teach DUP publications in our courses and sections. Moreover, DUP books and journals enrich our research and writing. The work of the DUP’s staff is essential to the process of knowledge production—shaping the texts that begin with the author’s research and end up in the hands of readers. However talented and committed to the Press’ mission, DUP staff workers have not been respected with proper working conditions, compensation, and a harassment and discrimination-free workplace. In order for DUP to continue supporting our pedagogical and research work, the staff workers of the press deserve to have their collective voice heard at the bargaining table to create a better workplace and, thus, a better press.

Intellectual labor is labor! It is time for management to acknowledge that fact. HGSU urges Duke University and Duke University Press (DUP) management to recognize the DUP Workers Union and enter a collective bargaining process.”

Harvard Graduate Students Union-UAW Local 5118

“The NC Triangle chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America would like to express our full support and solidarity with the Duke University Press Union. Duke University Press’ status as one of the top academic presses in the world is entirely due to the hard work and expertise of its employees. But despite their dedication and achievements, workers at Duke University Press have had to endure constant turnover, patterns of discrimination, inadequate compensation, and numerous other forms of exploitation that far too many working people experience. This is why we fully support the workers' demands for Duke University and Duke University Press to recognize their union and to enter a collective bargaining process. As so many of Duke University Press’ very own publications demonstrate, workers coming together to organize a union is a significant first step towards ensuring workplace safety, job security, fair benefits, fair pay, and dignity in the workplace. The NC Triangle DSA believes that all workers deserve a union—from workers at Duke, to workers across Durham, to workers across the world. May the upcoming struggle and victory of the Duke University Press Union lead to more struggles and victories for workers in the future. Solidarity forever.”

NC Triangle DSA

“In recognition of our fellow workers at Duke University Press (DUP), the Triangle members of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) would like to express solidarity with the Duke University Press Workers Union. Duke University workers have historically dealt with repressive anti-union attacks for asserting their right to collectively bargain. This time is no different. To bust the DUP Workers Union, Duke University has hired Ogletree Deakins, an anti-worker law firm that has received $81,000 from the Republican National Committee just this year alone. Ogletree has been a main partner for the capital class to bust unions in the South. Ogletree has also represented the disgraced racist ‘Sheriff’ Joe Arpaio, who built an egregious career around dehumanizing undocumented workers, some of the most exploited members of the working class. Duke University fakes a ‘progressive’ image. We don’t buy it.

In response, we affirm that a union is an inherent right of all workers. The IWW recognizes DUP workers as members of the working class, and are important sisters, brothers, and siblings of our One Big Union. We offer them our solidarity on this day, and every day. In demonstration, Triangle Wobblies offer our wholehearted support and solidarity to our fellow workers of DUP Workers Union and are prepared to act and mobilize on our principle of ‘an injury to one is an injury to all.’

En reconocimiento de nuestros compañeres de Duke University Press (DUP), la membresía del Triángulo de Los Trabajadores Industriales del Mundo (IWW) expresamos nuestra solidaridad con la Unión de Trabajadores de DUP. Los compañeres de la Universidad de Duke históricamente han enfrentado ataques represivos antisindicales por pelear por su derecho de negociar colectivamente. En contra de la Unión de DUP, Duke contrató a Ogletree Deakins, una firma legal anti-trabajadora que ha recibido $81.000 del Comité Nacional Republicano solo este año. Ogletree ha sido un socio principal de la clase capitalista para acabar con los sindicatos en el sur. Ogletree también ha representado al ‘Sheriff’ racista Joe Arpaio, quien construyó una carrera atroz en contra de los trabajadores indocumentados, unos de los más explotados de la clase trabajadora. Duke falsifica una imagen ‘progresista’. No lo creemos.

Afirmamos que un sindicato es un derecho de todos los trabajadores. La IWW reconoce a los trabajadores del DUP como miembros de la clase trabajadora y son importantes hermanas, hermanos y hermanes de nuestra Unión. Les ofrecemos nuestra solidaridad en este día y todos los días. Manifestando, los ‘Wobblies’ del Triángulo ofrecemos nuestro apoyo incondicional y solidaridad a nuestros compañeres trabajadores de la Unión de DUP y estamos preparados para actuar y movilizarnos en servicio a nuestro principio que ‘una lesión a uno es una lesión a todos’.”

Triangle Industrial Workers of the World

“We note with concern that a university-related employer like Duke University Press, which should be at the center of democratic values and progressive thinking, does not respect fundamental democratic rights when it comes to the freedom to organize and to bargain collectively.

As a German labor movement, the DGB and its members understand the struggle it takes to translate abstract words like labor rights and social justice into real change for workers and their families and ultimately for the broader society.

We fully support the right of Duke University Press staff to democratically organize in the formation of a union and collectively bargain a contract with their employer free from pressure or interference.

We strongly urge Duke University Press to abstain from union-busting activities and respect the rights of its staff, and to voluntarily recognize the DUP Workers Union without demanding an NLRB election.”

Reiner Hoffmann
Chairman, Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund (German Trade Union Confederation)