Adjunct faculty at Syracuse University this month gave themselves the gift that keeps on giving—a new AFT bargaining unit to represent 610 SU part-time faculty members. Results of the Dec. 20 representation election show a 182-122 union victory, with 304 votes cast.

The win was a year-and-a-half in the making for the Syracuse University Adjunct Faculty, an affiliate of the New York State United Teachers. NYSUT organizer Megan O’Brien reports that huge salary discrepancies across schools and departments were a  major driver in the election, along with a lack of benefits and health insurance for faculty teaching heavy course loads. Adjuncts also have paid a heavy price when it comes to student mentoring, committee assignments and other uncompensated duties.

One element that put the wind at the backs of SU organizers was the nature of the university itself, O’Brien said. "Adjuncts are a disparate group, and it’s hard to get two of them in the same place at the same time," she explains. That was not the case at SU. The largest private university in the region is seated in a close-knit, small-town community—the type of environment that helps bring people and unions together.

Following the vote, the university gave no indication it would use a seven-day window to challenge the vote. [Mike Rose]

December 21, 2005