A unit of nearly 200 part-time faculty who teach in the Chicago City Colleges filed with the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board on Nov. 1 to seek a collective bargaining election. The unit is called the City Colleges Adjunct Faculty Organization (CCAFO), and it is a chapter of the Cook County College Teachers Union/AFT.

Part-time faculty teaching in the public two-year colleges in the Chicago region have had an uphill battle to win the right to organize. Until recently, the labor law governing part-time faculty was so restrictive it made organizing almost impossible. Last year, the law was changed to stipulate that adjunct faculty who have taught six or more hours for two consecutive semesters, and who have a reasonable expectation of teaching in the following semester, are eligible to be represented by a union.

There are 655 part-time faculty teaching in the seven colleges of the system, says Perry Buckley with the CCCTU. Of those, 196 had taught the requisite hours to qualify for unionization last semester. But the number is growing all the time, Buckley adds. The union filed with signatures from 80 percent of the 196 part-timers.

More than 700 full-time faculty teach in the City Colleges and are represented by the CCCTU. Until about 15 years ago, 90 percent of the teachers were full time, says Buckley, but slowly, the colleges stopped replacing full-time faculty when they left. Three years ago, it got critical, says Buckley. In his department, English, at Wilbur Wright College, the number of classes taught by full-time faculty dipped below 50 percent.

The adjuncts have no benefits and are paid as little as $1,300 per course. In comparison with the average full-time faculty salary of $70,000, the adjuncts might make $15,000. "These are the migrant workers of the 21st century, and it's got to stop," Buckley exclaims.

The CCAFO hopes to get an election date by late winter or early spring, says Buckley, with a contract by the beginning of next school year.  [Barbara McKenna / AFT On Campus]

[December 13, 2002]