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  Local 965 Hosts Picnic for Workers Day
  President Hershel Hartford threw a party for Local 965 members and friends, and many dropped by for conversation, hamburgers, hot dogs, cold drinks and sides. It was UA-Fayetteville Education Association’s first-in-a-loooooong-while May Day / Workers Day picnic. We met at Fayetteville’s Veterans Memorial Park. While chatting was generally casual, Hershel formally welcomed the diners and … Continue reading “Local 965 Hosts Picnic for Workers Day”

We Are in the Arena

For a union to be effective in the 21st century, especially in an open-shop state, we not only represent our members but stand for all our fellow employees, a point set in the Constitution of the Local.

Our vision for a union: People who willingly bind together to make a better workplace and a better town and a better country. It is not for people sitting on the sidelines. We are in the arena.

We are volunteers who have committed ourselves to the cause of a stronger, more equitable community. Some members happily pay their dues and leave the activism to others. We appreciate them. We treasure their identification as members of the Local 965. Still, more helpful are members who stand up in the moment to say, “Hey, we should do something about this.” More helpful is a member saying, “Where is our statement about this troubling event or that inspiring cause? I will write one.”

We have spent years fighting for fair pay for employees. We campaign year-round for a safer workplace, from ensuring health remains a priority to returning to a gun-free campus. We of the 965 put ourselves on the line, we set our names to issues and causes.

Who Can Belong?

UA-Fayetteville Education Association/Local 965 represents employees of the University of Arkansas System who work in Fayetteville. We welcome workers from tenured profs to grad teaching assistants, from administrators to bookkeepers to the skilled trades for the University of Arkansas, UA Division of Agriculture and the Northwest Regional Campus of the U of A for Medical Sciences (UAMS). You can sign up just for our mailing list or hop to an application on the Join the Union page.

We Have History Here

As originally named, the Arkansas Public Employees Union, Local 965, was founded Aug. 3, 1962, in Fayetteville, Arkansas. According to its charter dated Jan. 1. 1966, it represented all public employees in nine counties in Northwest and north central Arkansas.

From the beginning, most 965 members were U of A employees. By affiliating in January 2020 with the Arkansas Education Association/National Education Association, Local 965 UA-Fayetteville Education Association comprises UA System workers at all levels in this city.

We’d like to meet you, so please sign up for our mailing list.