AFT To Host “Campus Equity Week”

Union Events Throughout the Nation will
Promote Fairness and Equity for Part-time/Adjunct Faculty

Washington, D.C.—During the week of Oct. 27-31, AFT members across the United States will hold a wide range of public events as part of Campus Equity Week 2003. The events will include everything from concerts and art shows to organizing drives, informational pickets and other demonstrations. Event participants will call for “fairness and equity” for part-time/adjunct faculty.

“Institutions increasingly rely on adjuncts to teach, but they pay adjuncts extremely low wages and they deny them such basic benefits as healthcare and pensions. The trend is more than troubling, it is unacceptable,” said AFT vice president William Scheuerman. “Campus Equity Week helps raise local and national awareness about these crucial issues. It also allows local unions to show the public that there are concrete solutions to the challenges faced by their members.”

The AFT represents more than 130,000 college and university faculty nationwide—more than any other single union. The figure includes more than 50,000 adjuncts—more than all other unions combined.

Adjunct faculty are routinely denied health insurance and other benefits. They generally are excluded from department meetings, lack job security and are rarely provided with offices, paid office hours, telephones or e-mail accounts to communicate with students.

As part of Campus Equity Week, the AFT will distribute Standards of Good Practice in the Employment of Part-Time/Adjunct Faculty. The publication provides specific recommendations to ensure quality instruction for students and fair working conditions for adjuncts. To obtain a copy, contact AFT Public Affairs or visit the AFT Higher Education Web site.

This year’s events mark the second celebration of Campus Equity Week in the United States and Canada. For additional information on U.S. events, contact Jaime Zapata of AFT Public Affairs at 202/879-4458.

The AFT represents more than 1.2 million pre-K through 12th-grade teachers, paraprofessionals and other school-related personnel, higher education faculty, nurses, healthcare workers, and federal, state and local government employees.

<<A list highlighting some of Campus Equity Week 2003 events in the United States follows>>
 

Highlights of AFT Campus Equity Week 2003 Events

Washington, D.C.

Campus Equity Week in Congress
Rep. Dale Kildee (D-Mich.), ranking minority member of the U.S. House of Representatives Education Subcommittee on 21st Century Competitiveness will introduce a resolution spotlighting the plight of contingent faculty and the need for greater fairness and equity.

Full-Time Nontenure-Track Faculty and Campus Equity Week
Given the direct correlation between part-time adjunct issues and the rising number of full-time non-tenure track faculty, the AFT will release a report titled The Growth of Full-Time Nontenure-Track Faculty: Challenges for the Union. The document, which details trends in the employment of full-time nontenure-track faculty and what those trends portend for the U.S. system of higher education, will be distributed at Campus Equity Week events in California, Illinois and Michigan. To download an advance copy, visit www.aft.org/higher_ed. For more information on events featuring this report, contact Jaime Zapata at 202/879-4458.

Resolution at Education International Conference
The AFT and several other North American unions will sponsor a resolution in support of Campus Equity Week at the upcoming Education International conference on higher education and research. To view the text of the resolution, visit www.aft.org/higher_ed .


California

Ghosts Haunt Community College
The San Mateo Community College Federation of Teachers will host an on-campus quiz show on adjunct issues and will display white balloon “ghosts” throughout campus to honor more than 100 part-time faculty whose positions were not renewed this academic year.

Don’t Gamble with Job Security
The San Jose/Evergreen Faculty Association will host an evening reception in honor of its part-time faculty. A petition will be circulated among campus community asking for a revision of the adjunct re-hiring system (currently a lottery) to a more fair and equitable process based on seniority.


New Jersey

The Garden State’s Road to Fairness
The Council of New Jersey State College Locals and the New Jersey Federation of Teachers will hold a statewide service conference in conjunction with the AAUP chapter at Rutgers University. The conference will feature state lawmakers who sponsored successful legislation allowing part-timers to buy into the state health benefit plan. It also will offer workshops for adjuncts/part-timers on pensions, the new health benefit program and strategic planning for future legislative gains.


New York

From Degrees of Shame to an Empire State of Fairness and Equity
At SUNY Albany, the United University Professions (UUP) kicked off its Campus Equity Week celebration early. The UUP recently hosted a faculty forum featuring panelists who discussed issues of concern to adjunct faculty. Throughout Campus Equity Week, UUP members at SUNY Albany and SUNY Alfred will coordinate screenings of Degrees of Shame—a film detailing the plight of adjuncts. The screening will be followed by group discussions.

Faculty Rights Made Fashionable
Members of the United College Employees at the Fashion Institute of Technology will contact New York state legislators urging them to vote for a measure that would make adjuncts eligible for unemployment insurance benefits during the summer. The union also will host a workshop informing adjunct faculty of their benefits under the existing contract.

Big Apple Action for Fairness and Equity
The Professional Staff Congress (PSC) will hold a major demonstration outside a meeting of the City University of New York’s board of trustees. The protest will highlight the inequitable working conditions of adjunct professors. The PSC also will conduct workshops informing adjuncts of new full-time job openings at CUNY and providing tips on preparing for the application process. The workshops will be followed by an afternoon screening of films on contingent faculty issues.


Ohio

First to Success
The University of Cincinnati’s Adjunct Faculty Association (AFA) will launch the next stage of an intense campaign to unionize adjunct faculty at the institution. Adjuncts currently are not covered under the state’s collective bargaining law. The AFA will begin the week with a news briefing outlining its plans to obtain collective bargaining authorization cards from a unit of more than 1,400 U.C. adjunct faculty members. The rest of the week will feature informational protests throughout campus. On Oct. 30 the Ohio Federation of Teachers will hold a press conference in support of legislation introduced to grant adjuncts and graduate employees collective bargaining rights. If successful, adjuncts at the University of Cincinnati would be the first in the state to unionize.


Oregon

The Drama of Adjunct Life
The Portland Community College Faculty Federation will hold afternoon rallies at each campus featuring dramatic skits on issues faced by adjunct professors. Throughout the week, written testimonials from adjunct faculty on issues such as pay raises, health benefits and professional status will be on display.


Pennsylvania

They’re Talking Fairness and Equity
The Faculty Federation of the Community College of Philadelphia has been busy lobbying state legislators and City Council members on adjunct faculty concerns. The federation will step up its efforts during Campus Equity Week through interviews on the radio talk shows “Talking Unions” and “Labor to Neighbor.” Union members also will host a faculty forum entitled “What is Fair Pay for Part-time Faculty?”


Vermont

Moonlighting in Vermont
The United Professions of Vermont (UPV) will host screenings of a video entitled “Moonlighting in Vermont: Problems and Prospects of Part-time Professors,” which was created by UPV members.”


Washington State

A Mountain of Challenges and Achievements
Gov. Gary Locke has designated Oct. 29 “Adjunct and Part-Time Faculty Recognition Day." During Campus Equity Week 2003, the Washington Federation of Teachers and the Washington Education Association will co-host a conference entitled "Bargaining Equity for Part-Time Faculty." The conference will highlight important accomplishments in legislation for adjuncts and part-timers and provide tips and information on how to bargain better contractual provisions on salary, benefits and employment conditions.

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The AFT represents more than 1.3 million pre-K through 12th-grade teachers, paraprofessionals and other school support employees, higher education faculty, nurses and other healthcare workers, and state and local government employees.