Posts tagged adjunct professors
Commentary: The UAW Puts Academics Ahead of Autoworkers
September 29, 2024 // Nor are autoworkers heading to the picket line for student-loan forgiveness. But the UAW thinks that topic matters, once again at the insistence of graduate students who have never been to a factory. Last year, after the Supreme Court struck down the Biden-Harris administration’s first scheme to “cancel” student debt, UAW leaders oddly called it an “anti-worker decision.” That’s news to workers at the Rawsonville plant, many of whom have already repaid thousands of dollars in college tuition and have no desire to work overtime to pay off the student loans of those who chose to go to college and willingly took on debt.
CALIFORNIA: SCA Adjunct Professors voted to unionize
March 6, 2024 // The Adjunct Faculty Alliance, or UAW, at the USC School of Cinematic Arts voted to unionize on Friday. 94% voted in favor of unionization. The results with be finalized this Friday, unless there are any objections.
Adjunct Professors Vote to Unionize at USC’s School of Cinematic Arts
February 28, 2024 // Two hundred and six workers voted to join the United Auto Workers union in the count, while 13 workers voted against unionizing. Out of around 281 eligible voters, 219 cast valid ballots, and there were 8 void ballots and 4 challenged ballots. The group includes instructors in departments spanning from production to screenwriting to interactive media and games, among others. The parties will have a week to file any objections, and if there are none, the results will be certified.
Focus organizing drives on workers without college degrees, US unions told
May 8, 2023 // n contrast, unionization hasn’t taken off nearly as rapidly at many blue-collar, lower-paid workplaces. No other Chipotle restaurant has unionized since workers in Lansing, Michigan, voted last August to make theirs the nation’s first unionized Chipotle. Only one Amazon warehouse is unionized in the US, just two Apple stores and four Trader Joe’s. Those companies have mounted fierce anti-union counterattacks to slow and they hope stop the spread. Chris Rosell, the Teamsters’ organizing director, says one reason unionization of blue-collar workers often doesn’t catch fire is that it’s frequently easier for anti-union consultants to scare and deter those workers. “Blue-collar workers often aren’t as educated about this union-busting stuff,” he said. “They could be more susceptible to these kinds of tactics.” Rosell said the Teamsters often run elaborate campaigns that seek to inoculate workers from the pressures and propaganda from anti-union consultants. He said the Teamsters’ president, Sean O’Brien, hopes to double the union’s membership and focus organizing on such area trucking, warehouses and sanitation work. Erica Smiley, executive director of Jobs with Justice, a labor rights group, says it’s often harder to unionize blue-collar workers because they tend to have less economic security than educated workers and have greater fear of what will happen to them if they’re retaliated against, perhaps getting fired, for seeking to unionize.
Rutgers faculty suspend strike after reaching tentative deal
April 17, 2023 // Striking faculty at New Jersey's Rutgers University returned to classrooms Monday after reaching a tentative agreement on a new contract to boost wages and provide other benefits. On Saturday, the three striking unions representing more than 9,000 faculty members announced they had reached a "framework" agreement with Rutgers administration on new contracts, allowing more than 67,000 students to return to classes. The unions have been on strike since last Monday. The Rutgers' unions — AAUP-AFT, Rutgers Adjunct Faculty Union and the Rutgers AAUP-Biomedical and Health Sciences of New Jersey — said the tentative deal includes "major victories" but said there are still "open issues" that have to be resolved before they put the contracts before their membership for a vote. "We have only suspended the strike, not canceled it," they said in a joint statement. "If we don’t win what we need on these open issues, we can and will continue with the work stoppage."
NYC’s New School tells students to attend class while professors strike
November 17, 2022 // Part-time professors at Manhattan’s New School went on strike on Wednesday — but the progressive university wants students to cross the picket line to keep attending classes while their instructors fight for better wages. Parents were stunned when they received an email from the university on Wednesday that said that despite the professor strike, the school “remains open and instructional activities are ongoing.” The school, which can cost upwards of $60,000 per year, said it’s encouraging students to keep up with their work through an “alternative instructional plan
Faculty Members at Howard University Threaten to Strike Over Working Conditions and Pay
March 21, 2022 // During a demonstration held on campus Wednesday, several university faculty members, students and alumni leaders rallied in support of the school’s faculty as they argue what is low pay for non-tenured, full-time teaching faculty and adjunct professors. Some faculty members say if an agreement is not reached with the university by Friday, they will execute a strike starting next week.
US unions see unusually promising moment amid wave of victories
March 16, 2022 // Gebre said the nation’s unions should send far more organizers and money to back the union drives at Starbucks and Amazon. “The rest of the labor movement should be willing to lend a hand,” even if they don’t get any of the members, said Gebre, who was recently named Greenpeace’s chief program officer. “That’s what solidarity means.”