Collective Bargaining

Learning from Wisconsin

It's time to discard the pernicious hierarchical structures that prevent faculty members from seeing themselves as part of a campus community of workers.

Academic Librarians in the Breach

Even in the heat of the attacks on collective bargaining, we need to understand the distinct issues that smaller groups face.

New Faculty Union Under Attack

On April 29, the University of Illinois Chicago United Faculty, a group jointly affiliated with the AAUP and the American Federation of Teachers, delivered hundreds of signed union authorization cards to the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board—more than enough to certify the union under Illinois law. The faculty voted to have one union represent tenured, tenure-track, and contingent faculty who have appointments of at least 51 percent time.

From the Editor: Waiting for Norma Rae

The two main characters in Samuel Beckett’s most famous play have been the subject of much speculation. One eminent scholar noted that Vladimir and Estragon sounded as if they had earned PhDs.

“How do you know they hadn’t?” Beckett, the provocateur, replied.

Faculty Activism Alive and Well in Ohio

Faced with some of the most drastic antiunion legislation in the country, faculty in Ohio joined forces this spring with other workers and unions in a coalition, We Are Ohio, determined to win back workers’ rights in the state. The coalition led a successful effort to place the legislation, known as S.B. 5, on November’s ballot for a referendum.

From The President: I Want to Be a Member of a Faculty Union Because…

1. The faculty must be organized to advocate for its professional values, principles, and responsibilities, including its support for student rights.

2. The community would benefit from much wider and more organized faculty participation in campus life.

3. A faculty union can forge effective alliances between faculty members and other employee groups on campus and in the community.

Faculty Forum: Ways to Organize Non-Tenure-Track Faculty

Lecturers, adjuncts, instructors, postdocs, visiting professors, graduate student teachers, and others in non-tenure-track positions now constitute the great majority of faculty in US higher education. But many college and university policies were written decades ago and barely acknowledge the existence of faculty like me who work in contingent appointments.

Angela Hewett Named Director Of Organizing And Services

Angela Hewett has joined the AAUP staff as director of the Department of Organizing and Services. Over the last nine years Hewett has worked in a variety of roles within the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) at both the national and the local level, most recently as staff coordinator with SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West. She previously served as an assistant professor of English at George Washington University, where she helped organize a bargaining unit of more than 1,600 contingent faculty members.

Part-Time Faculty In Michigan Say Yes To Union

In October, contingent faculty at Northern Michigan University voted to become a part of the existing AAUP collective bargaining chapter, which already represented tenured and tenure-track faculty.

The vote was 54–5 in favor of “accreting,” or adding onto the existing union, which means that one hundred contingent faculty members will join the existing three-hundred-person bargaining unit. Those eligible are contingent faculty teaching at least eight credits a year.

I Want to Be a Member of a Graduate Student Employee Union Because...

A union will stand up for my economic interests.

  • I want a voice in establishing both my working conditions and the rights and standards of the profession.
  • Graduate student employees deserve to receive a living wage in exchange for their work.
  • By working collectively, graduate student employees can make certain that their compensation is a campus priority.
  • I cannot concentrate on my professional development if I am distracted by economic insecurity.

Pages

Subscribe to Collective Bargaining