AFT’s most ambitious higher education project of the year was mobilizing affiliates behind Campus Equity Week (CEW). More than 50 AFT locals in 15 states were on hand to participate and promote activities throughout the country during CEW, Oct. 28-Nov. 3. AFT’s higher education program and policy council asked former Washington state federation president Susan Levy to coordinate AFT locals’ involvement. A variety of new creative materials were produced by the national AFT for locals to distribute--buttons, fliers, sample "Letters to the Editor" and newspaper copy for local papers.

CEW was a successful coalition effort: Eighteen American and four Canadian organizations and unions acted as co-sponsors of a week designed to educate the public about the poor pay and working conditions of the growing number of part-time faculty, adjuncts and other contingent workers, including graduate assistants. The week was filled with a myriad of activist events that focused on gross inequities endured by part-time faculty. In Chicago, AFT college faculty stood next to a life-sized replica of an elephant and held signs declaring "What do elephants and part-time faculty have in common?--Both work for peanuts!" and "No more peanuts," as they handed out peanuts to passers-by. There were rallies in Philadelphia at the community colleges, Temple University and the University of Pennsylvania.

Similar events took place in New York at City University of New York where an open forum sponsored by the CUNY Professional Staff Congress/AFT/AAUP was held at the CUNY Graduate Center. Speakers and the audience explored the changing structure of the academic work force, how to defend good education, workers’ rights, and other issues. The United University Professions/AFT/AAUP sponsored several events at its various chapters around the state: SUNY Buffalo held a rally that featured union songs, a theatrical troupe and speeches from part-time workers; and the Elmwood Avenue campus screened "Degrees of Shame," a documentary relating the plight of part-time faculty in American higher education.

In Boston, part-time faculty from the AFT chapter at the Berklee School of Music and the University of Massachusetts held a rally and outdoor concert in front of the Boston Public Library. In Columbus, Ohio, AFT held a rally to protest low wages and a state law that prohibits part-time faculty from having union contracts. A Madison, Wis., rally at the Wisconsin State Capitol was followed the next day by a speech on part-time issues by political commentator and filmmaker Michael Moore. In Ann Arbor, Mich., adjunct faculty at the University of Michigan launched a major union organizing campaign under AFT.

Forty-three percent of the nation’s faculty are part-timers; most of them lack basic workplace protections and academic freedom. Supporting Campus Equity Week is one important approach to focus attention on part-timers' unacceptable working conditions, lack of job security, and lack of benefits including health insurance. AFT president Sandra Feldman wrote a Where We Stand column on part-timers, titled, "Second-Class Citizens," and has pledged to keep the momentum building for equity in higher education.

Suggestions for steps to further the work of CEW are included in the AFT publication, "Marching toward Equity." This new publication documents the specific gains AFT locals have made in the past few years at the bargaining table and in state legislatures. It shows that when part-time and full-time faculty come together and demand change, they can make great strides in addressing the problems they face. The report also provides political, legislative and contractual strategies affiliates can adapt and use for their own circumstances.

Since the 1960s, the AFT has been representing and organizing part-time and adjunct faculty and has created numerous resources. These reports and a full overview of AFT activities during CEW are available on our Part-time Faculty page. For a sampling of AFT’s participation in CEW, visit our CEW Activities page. For a look at the other activities that were held during CEW and information about future work on these issues, visit the CEW Web site.

[posted 3/25/02]