From UE News | Photo Courtesy of ueunion.org | UE News Reuse Policy
WASHINGTON, DC—UE General President Carl Rosen spoke at a rally on Feberuary 25th opposing the cuts to federal research funding that have been ordered by Elon Musk’s “Department of Government Efficiency.”
“Cuts to research funding are a direct theft from working people for the benefit of the billionaires who are now running the federal government,” Rosen said.
“It’s a theft from working people because thousands and thousands will lose their jobs. But it is also stealing a better future from all working people. A future where the research of today results in health care breakthroughs that can cure the illnesses that so many Americans are afflicted with. A future where the research of today can fix the poisoned environment that so many of us are forced to live in. A future where the research of today can help address mental health issues, drug abuse, and other problems that end lives too early in this country.”
The rally was sponsored by Labor for Higher Education, a coalition of unions representing higher education workers that includes UE, along with UAW, AAUP, AFT, AFSCME, CWA, NEA and SEIU.
American Association of University Professors President Todd Wolfson cited the crucial contribution that federal funding makes towards finding cures and treatments for cancer, Alzheimer’s, heart disease and other illnesses. He said the cuts were being made because “billionaires decided their profits matter more than lives,” and noted that “Trump’s reckless cuts will kill.”
“I study how the brain responds to antidepressants,” Emilya Ventriglia, a reseacher at the National Institute of Health, told the rally, “because we need to find better treatments for suicide prevention.” Ventriglia, who is president of UAW Local 2750, described how the NIH is using loopholes to fire people, pointing out that “every single one of these jobs lost means a cure that’s delayed, or a breakthrough that may never happen.”
Rosen pointed out that “Trump and Musk are making these cuts in a totally undemocratic fashion because they know the American people don’t support them. Congress appropriated this money, and Congress needs to step in and reassert their authority. And we, the American people, need to put pressure on every Member of Congress, regardless of their party, to stand up and say to Trump and Musk that our country is a democracy, not an oligarchy, and that we won’t tolerate them enriching themselves by stealing our future.”
Rosen was joined at the rally by Local 197-Teachers and Researchers United members Connor Krill and William Brakewood and by retired UE Director of Organization Bob Kingsley.
- Last month, UE members participated in local actions to fight the funding cuts in Boston, Chicago, and Washington, DC. Watch this video made by UE Local 256 (MIT-GSU) about the Boston rally
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