Emerson Chapter Expands Membership

Full-time non-tenure-track fac­ulty at Emerson College’s Boston campus voted unanimously in Sep­tember to join an existing collective bargaining chapter that represents tenured and tenure-track faculty at the college. The Emerson College administration had committed to recognize voluntarily a unified collective bargaining chapter if the vote was successful.

Following the vote, the chap­ter will receive national support to organize a membership drive for tenured, tenure-seeking, and full-time non-tenure-track faculty. In addition, the chapter will receive training to facilitate negotiations over changes to the collective bargaining agreement to account for the new member base and advice on revising the faculty handbook.

Key issues of concern that emerged during the organizing campaign included workload, benefits, leave parity, and the protections offered by grievances backed by arbitration.