Hundreds of Adjunct Faculty at Henry Ford Community College
Vote To Join American Federation of Teachers Affiliate

DEARBORN, Mich. – The part-time adjunct faculty at Henry Ford Community College voted overwhelmingly today to be represented by the Henry Ford Community College Adjunct Faculty Organization to improve their low salaries and other inferior working conditions.

The 580 Henry Ford adjuncts will join 60,000 other contingent faculty members nationwide who are affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers.

The vote for union representation was 334-41. The college’s adjuncts include part-time faculty teaching for-credit classes, and faculty doing part-time, non-credit instructional work such as librarians, counselors, English Language Institute and Learning Lab instructors, job placement officers, and cooperative education specialists. The next step is to negotiate a contract with the college.

 “We’re so happy that at last we have a voice,” says Mary Beck, interim president of the college’s adjunct faculty organization.

 “The only way to get salaries that at least match other area colleges is through collective bargaining,” says AFT Michigan President David Hecker, who is also an AFT vice president. Most Henry Ford adjuncts earn just $1,500 to $1,800 per class. Adjuncts at most other community colleges and universities in southeast Michigan earn far more and, not coincidentally, are represented by unions, he said. Other reasons for the Henry Ford adjuncts’ strong support for joining the union included their lack of access to healthcare; the absence of job security from one semester to the next; and inadequate  resources, such as office space to meet with students. By a 3-1 margin, Henry Ford part-timers outnumber the full-time faculty, who are represented by the Henry Ford Community College Federation of Teachers/AFT.

 The Henry Ford Community College Adjunct Faculty Organization is affiliated with AFT Michigan, which also represents adjuncts at Wayne State University, Wayne County Community College, the University of Michigan, and Eastern Michigan University. Nationally, the AFT represents 165,000 faculty, professional staff and graduate employees, including 60,000 contingent faculty members.

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