Duke: Show up for Durham

Duke University and Health System

We show up for Duke every single day. Now, we are demanding Duke show up for us.

Duke has a $12 billion endowment and is the largest employer in the Triangle. At a time when the university and our community are under attack from Trump and Washington, DC , Duke has a responsibility to do more, not less.

But instead of investing in our futures, Duke is threatening our jobs. We know Duke has the resources to fight back, protect jobs in Durham and contribute to our community by supporting good, union jobs, public schools, affordable housing and infrastructure.

Our new coalition, Durham Rising is demanding:

Dignified Work: Duke must pay $25/hr, implement fair labor standards and benefits, and respect the rights of its workers to form unions. Duke must hold contractors to the same standard.

The Public Schools Our Students Deserve: Duke must contribute to a PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) to support public schools and educator salaries.

Affordable Housing: Duke must build adequate affordable housing for students and graduate workers and contribute a PILOT to address the housing crisis

Public Infrastructure: Duke must contribute a PILOT to support Durham’s city services and the wages of city and county workers.

Respect, Safety, and Protection: Duke must protect students, faculty, workers, programs, and services amid federal funding cuts, threats to freedom of speech, and deportation threats from ICE under the Trump administration

It takes all of us uniting together, lending our voices and taking action to win the change we need.

Sign this petition and demand that Duke University protect higher education, invest in our community and the future of Durham.

Petition by
Myles Green
Union of Southern Service Workers
Sponsored by
Ussw_logo_red_(5)_-_small
Union of Southern Service Workers

To: Duke University and Health System
From: [Your Name]

Duke University, I demand that you stand up to the attacks from Trump and Washington and invest in the residents and city of Durham because we always show up for YOU!

We are calling on you, Duke, to join us and have Durham’s back. Stand up to the attacks on higher education– don’t put the funding cuts on workers’ backs! Be a model employer and pay $25/hr. Invest in Durham by contributing a PILOT to address the crisis in public education, city services, and affordable housing.

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