A member of Graduate Employees Together (GET-UP), the graduate employees organization at the University of Pennsylvania, briefed Rep. Richard Gephardt (D-Mo.) and former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean about the atmosphere for labor organizing at the university. Joanna Kempner, a GET-UP member and former spokeswoman for the organization, was one of eight labor union representatives who met with the two presidential hopefuls on July 31. The meeting was part of a series of briefing sessions organized by the AFL-CIO.

In two sessions--one with each candidate-- the unionists talked about the state of labor relations in the United States from the perspective of the rank and file. They described ways the National Labor Relations Act allows employers to legally block employees from exercising their right to form unions. "I think it was instructive for them to hear what regular workers go through every day when they try to form a union," says Kempner.

The candidates were deeply concerned about the story of GET-UP's protracted legal battles, Kempner reports, mentioning GET-UP's difficulties first in getting a decision from the National Labor Relations Board that the union had the right to hold an election, and then, the current struggle to be allowed to count the ballots that have been impounded since February when the NLRB election finally was held. Despite community support for the union, Penn president Judith Rodin has been unalterably opposed to allowing the process leading to bargaining to go forward.

The candidates pledged their support to the union. Rep. Gephardt said he would circulate a letter to House and Senate colleagues that would be sent to Rodin, asking her to count the ballots and recognize the union. Gov. Dean is hoping to participate in a rally with GET-UP supporters.

"This will galvanize our organization," says Kempner. "National attention legitimates our cause."

Earlier this summer, Rodin, who is a registered Democrat, informed the UP board of trustees that she would be stepping down from the university after this academic year. Some believe that she plans to seek public office. GET-UP hopes her political aspirations will moderate her views on the union, says union staffer Jeff Hornstein.

On another front, GET-UP is running an online petition to put national pressure on the university to count the February ballots. To sign the "Count Our Votes" petition, go to www.petitiononline.com/getup03/petition.html.

Film captures adjunct plight

Yadith Sepulveda fears for her husband's safety when he leaves for his 14-hour work day--he could fall asleep while driving or an accident might befall him as he rides his motorcycle on California's crowded freeways.

Is this man a high-speed courier? No, just another exploited freeway flier serving California's community college system.

Part-timers recognize George Sepulveda's plight in "Teachers on Wheels," Linda Janakos' documentary on the personnel crisis in California's community colleges. Janakos, a community college English professor in Santa Monica, was moved by the lack of respect, compensation and rights that California part-timers have, and she decided to self-finance the documentary to inform the public.

The film details the lack of tangible benefits and equitable pay in part-timers' jobs. In the film, George Sepulveda takes a grim view of the inadequate compensation. "I just work as much as I can and hope that I can save enough money to retire so I don't have to eat dog food when I'm old," he deadpans.

The lack of respect accorded these professionals is another focus of the film. Their "offices" often are either vehicles or common mailrooms; they receive the summons to teach on the first day of some classes, and most adjuncts willingly accept the work--teaching at three, four, or even five colleges simultaneously to maintain a living wage. Even after teaching multiple semesters, they must continuously search for new work--because they are seldom offered short-term contracts.

The state chancellor and community college presidents are shown in the film explaining how they understand the plight of adjuncts but just don't have the funding to compensate the part-timers. Although the state promotes community colleges as being the "gateway to the workplace," the Legislature funds the UC system at five times the per-pupil rate of community colleges.

For part-timers, the only path to equity is through the state Capitol. The film shows students, adjuncts, and concerned citizens participating in grass-roots publicity efforts like distributing the "scholar dollar," which explains how part-timers earn 37 cents for every dollar a full-time faculty member earns, and dressing up as the notorious "Freeway Flier." The video also showcases the California Federation of Teachers' "Part-Time Equity Week," which broadcast the slogan "Equal Pay for Equal Work" in hundreds of educational institutions. In a protest rally at the state Capitol in 2000, adjuncts delivered 45,000 signed petitions to Gov. Gray Davis asking him to address part-time equity in the state's budget; Janakos' camera later showed the petitions in a trash can.

"That's exactly the way we've been treated for 20 years," says Linda Cushing, an AFT national representative who had helped organize the rally before she went to work for the union.

The adjuncts achieved an important victory last year, when the governor proposed and the Legislature appropriated $57 million in funds dedicated to addressing part-time faculty salary inequities. Whether that funding will continue given the state's deficit problems is unclear. While some legislators have signed on to equity, many have not--and the fight must continue.

"The teachers have to enlighten the status quo into understanding that position may equal power, but it does not equal right," Janakos says.

The documentarian hopes to turn Teachers on Wheels into a full-length film. In the meantime, copies of the documentary can be purchased at www.Rabble-A. com.

--Mark Henson

OSU union secures health plan

Members of the Coalition of Graduate Employees/AFT at Oregon State University have achieved one of their top goals in forming a union three years ago--adequate healthcare coverage. After months of negotiation, this summer the union secured a letter of agreement from the university granting the 700-member bargaining unit comprehensive health benefits for now and its own plan down the road.

The plan steadily increases members' health and wellness stipend for the next academic year, which will enable grad students to leave the voluntary student plan that previously was the only option offered. Grad students had been given $110 per term to use for health insurance--one-half the $220 per-term premium of the voluntary plan. But as benefits on the plan became subject to change, many grad students found the plan of limited value.

Under the agreement, the university will establish a CGE health plan in 2004 and cover 75 percent of all health insurance costs in 2005. The agreement contains biennial reopener provisions, though it allows renegotiation if insurance premiums increase more than 10 percent a year.

"What impressed me most was the support we got from faculty," says Mindy Crandall, CGE vice president and bargaining team member. "Their awareness helped to move negotiations along."

Faculty and students joined CGE members at events throughout the academic year, where CGE held signature drives to build its membership by 300 percent in preparation for bargaining. A May rally and march to the president's office attracted more than 100 people. Luke Ackerman, president of CGE, credits the healthcare victory to those actions and the work of graduate employees from years past.

UVM part-timers file for an election

Part-time faculty who teach at the University of Vermont (UVM) are following the good example of their full-time brothers and sisters. In June, the United Professions of Vermont/AFT filed a petition with the Vermont Labor Relations Board, seeking an election for the unit of roughly 200 part-timers. The petition, replete with 150 signatures, asks for a vote on whether the part-time faculty want to be represented by a collective bargaining agent.

Earlier this year, the United Academics/AFT, the union representing full-time and nontenure-track faculty at UVM, unanimously ratified its first contract. UA voted for collective bargaining in April 2001 after a prolonged campaign against a strongly opposed administration. This time around, the union is expecting resistance from management, says Roy Vestrich, president of United Professions of Vermont/AFT, but hopes that it will not be as fierce.

Working conditions for part-timers are "deplorable," says Vestrich. The part-time faculty "are at the bottom of the pecking order. Some do not have offices or office space or phones, and they have little to no job security."

Shortly after UVM part-timers filed for the election, university spokesman Enrique Corredera was dismissive. "We're of the mind that unions are not necessary," he said. Part-timers disagree.

"The life of a part-time teacher at UVM can be fraught with uncertainty" and contracts only last a semester, says Cami Davis, a UVM part-timer who taught eight courses last year--more than a full-time load--with a salary only in the twenty-thousands.

John Aberth, a fellow part-timer at UVM does not even have a key to the building in which he teaches. "[It] is symbolic of the adverse conditions that part-time faculty have to labor under," he explains. "I like to draw the analogy between lords and serfs. We're the serfs, and they [the administration] are the lords."

Part-time faculty have many other concerns, notes Vestrich, including benefits and healthcare, pay equity and--above all--hiring disparities between departments and disciplines.

The university has 30 days to respond to the union's petition. UPV hopes the election will take place this fall.

--Heather Raiti

Spring sweep: AFT picks up a host of locals

Years of hard organizing work culminated in a host of election victories for the AFT last spring, all of which occurred after AFT On Campus put its May/June issue to bed. Here is a summary of our member gains:

ILLINOIS AND N.J. ADJUNCTS JOIN THE FOLD

On April 9, the adjunct faculty at Moraine Valley Community College in Palos Hills, Ill., voted 90-6 for union representation with the AFT. The unit of 190 adjuncts joins two other Illinois Federation of Teachers locals on that campus, where the IFT represents 180 full-time faculty and 200 full-time and part-time support staff. The issues that galvanized the part-timers were the need for adequate salary, benefits and professional resources, such as office space, says Randy Southard, president of the full-time faculty union, which helped in the organizing effort.

On May 6, a semester of hard work organizing adjuncts at two New Jersey community colleges paid off with victories on the campuses of Hudson County Community College and Passaic County Community College. Hudson adjuncts voted 98-12 against no agent to bring the unit of more than 300 under the AFT umbrella. At Passaic, adjuncts voted 89-60  for the AFT.

As with most part-time faculty, the issues for the New Jersey adjuncts are salaries and benefits--but also respect. The courtesy of more than, in some cases, one day's or one week's notice of teaching assignments would be nice, says Stan Maron, an English instructor who teaches at Hudson. Also, a seniority system would lend more predictability to the job.

These two adjunct locals join another unit at Union County College that had voted earlier to be represented by the AFT (see May/June AFT On Campus). In total, the New Jersey Federation of Teachers represents eight two-year college adjunct locals.

LANDSLIDE VICTORY FOR LECTURERS IN MICHIGAN

Contract negotiations are to begin this fall for a new unit of full- and part-time nontenure-track faculty at the University of Michigan, who voted in overwhelming numbers last spring to be represented by the Lecturers' Employee Organization. The vote was 631 for representation and 135 against. LEO is affiliated with the Michigan Federation of Teachers & School Related Personnel/AFT.

As is the case with nontenure-track faculty members throughout the nation, the 1,300 University of Michigan full-time, adjunct and visiting professors teach nearly half the total undergraduate credit hours at the university, but are often hired on a semester-by-semester basis for a fraction of the salary and benefits of their tenured and tenure-track colleagues.

LEO is part of a growing number of AFT locals that represent nontenure-track faculty. In Michigan, MFT&SRP already represents lecturers at Eastern Michigan University. The AFT represents more than 46,000 nontenure-track higher education professionals in more than 100 local unions nationwide.

FACULTY AFFIRM THE UNION AT WEST FLORIDA U

A unit of 325 faculty teaching at West Florida University has held an election on the issue of representation by the United Faculty of Florida/AFT/NEA and voted overwhelmingly to affirm the union. The vote was 199 for the UFF, which is affiliated with the Florida Education Association, and 18 for no union.

The chapter is one of 11 that has had to recertify itself as a result of a recent political reorganization of the public higher education system in Florida. When the statewide UFF-bargained contract expired Jan. 7, the institutions took the position that they would no longer recognize the UFF since the university system reorganization had changed who the faculty's employer was. Foreseeing this posture, the UFF, which represents 10,000 faculty statewide, had mounted a massive internal organizing campaign, resulting in the filing of 6,600 cards with the state labor board in December.

Since January, seven of the 11 university boards have voluntarily recognized UFF as the bargaining agent. The West Florida election brings the total number of institutions on board to eight. The next election will take place at Florida International University. In the WFU instance, says AFT national representative Norm Holsinger, the board and the president supported recognition for the union, but administrators insisted on an election. The support of the higher-ups however helped smooth the way for a speedy election and the positive outcome.

CINCINNATI AAUP CHAPTER VOTES TO AFFILIATE

A union of full-time faculty at the University of Cincinnati has voted to jointly affiliate with the Ohio Federation of Teachers/AFT. The chapter representing 2,100 faculty, which has been affiliated with the American Association of University Professors for more than 25 years, voted 240-163 on June 2 for the joint affiliation.

It took the step of exploring this path after a decade of disappointing experiences at the bargaining table, says chapter president John Brackett. "Dealing with a Republican Legislature, a Republican governor and a board of trustees all appointed by the governor has not been an easy context" for bargaining, he notes.

The faculty has witnessed the university's skewed priorities recently--putting institutional resources toward new building projects and servicing debt while faculty salaries (paid for out of the same budget line) have stagnated. Yet, "we're the only public institution in the state that has lost enrollment over the last two years," says Brackett.

Concluding that the union needed a more powerful voice in the state capital, going for an affiliation with a like-minded organization that has resources and lobbying clout seemed the most logical remedy, he adds.

Both the national AAUP and the AFT have approved the dual affiliation, and the chapter will meet to change its bylaws in the fall. "We're very excited about the results and eager to start working with the chapter on preparing for their upcoming negotiations," says Ohio Federation of Teachers president and AFT vice president Tom Mooney.

The OFT also is working with an organizing committee of adjuncts at the university, which employs approximately 1,400 part-timers.

Build strength in numbers, says AFT
Annual higher ed conference report

The American Federation of Teachers needs to "grow and grow and grow some more" in order to keep the circling sharks at bay, AFT executive vice president Nat LaCour told 300 higher education unionists gathered for the 2003 AFT Higher Education Issues conference in Atlanta last spring. LaCour kicked off the event by detailing some of the national trends that are eating away at higher education.

"In America, people love to say we have the best system of higher education in the world--and we do," LaCour said. "But it almost seems like someone wrote a manual on how to undo everything that makes American higher education so great and, for some crazy reason, that manual is becoming a bestseller!"

The conference theme was "Strategic Planning: What Kind of Academy? What Kind of Union?" The conference broadened a yearlong process begun by AFT program and policy council members in January when they scoped out preliminary priorities for the union. These priorities provided the substance of 15 conference workshops on topics such as organizing, distance education, developing media campaigns, analyzing institutional budgets, mobilizing for state and local political action, building labor coalitions, strengthening activism and so on.

"The current trends in higher education are just the tip of the iceberg," noted AFT vice president William Scheuerman, who is president of the United University Professions/AFT at the State University of New York. "If we don't take a proactive approach now, then all these problems will take over."

A highlight of the conference was the seventh annual Irwin Polishook lecture, delivered by Gary Rhoades, director of the Center for the Study of Higher Education at the University of Arizona. Rhoades spoke about the rise of the "market model" in higher education and offered responses the union can make to halt the drive toward what he termed "academic capitalism."

The move toward the market model in higher education has led to the reorganization of the faculty structure as seen in the increased use of part-time/adjunct and contingent faculty, the standardization of curriculum, the shift to technology-based classrooms driven by profits rather than pedagogy and, in general, the de-emphasis on delivering quality in higher education, said Rhoades.

The higher ed conference was preceded by a special daylong seminar devoted to the professional concerns of graduate employee unions. Sponsored by the AFT and its Alliance of Graduate Employee Locals (AGEL/AFT), the theme was "Graduate Employees and Undergraduate Teaching: Identifying Best Practices." Keynote speaker Gordon Lafer, an assistant professor at the University of Oregon, spoke about the growing insistence on the part of administrators that academic courses and scholarly research produce financial profit. "The only thing that has the hope of reversing this trend is the labor movement," he said. Sessions and workshops focused on classroom pedagogy, hiring and supervision, academic freedom and intellectual property.

High court rules for diversity

In a victory for affirmative action, the Supreme Court in June upheld the constitutionality of the University of Michigan's law school admissions policy, reaffirming the right of schools to consider race as a factor in admissions decisions. In a 5-4 split, the justices ruled that the policy's use of race was narrowly tailored to grant the school the benefits of diversity.

"The Supreme Court has reaffirmed the core American values of equal opportunity and fairness, and strengthened our nation's commitment to a higher education system that affirmatively opens its doors to all," says AFT president Sandra Feldman.

In a related case at the undergraduate school, the court ruled 6-3 to strike down the point-based admissions system, which had granted African-Americans, Hispanics and Native Americans 20 extra points on a 150-point scale.

Calling diversity "a fundamental part of education," United University Professions president William Scheuerman lauded the court's willingness to keep intact the principles of affirmative action. However, he cautioned affirmative action supporters to temper their celebration until the ruling's full impact has been felt.

"We'll have to see the reaction across the country, particularly in terms of the undergraduate ruling. I think you're going to see a lot of political battles, and hopefully, you won't see institutions backing off of their commitment to diversity," said Scheuerman, an AFT vice president and chair of the AFT Higher Education program and policy council.

The AFT, which filed an amicus brief in support of affirmative action and the University of Michigan, has long supported the principles of affirmative action. "Ensuring opportunity for the previously disadvantaged is a policy that benefits American business, advances intellectual achievement in the United States and enriches every aspect of our society," says Feldman.

--Mark Henson

TAA kills SEVIS fee

The Teaching Assistants' Association at the University of Wisconsin-Madison/AFT won an important battle for international students. The university announced in May that it would not charge a fee to international students to cover the cost of implementing the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) required by the federal government. Earlier in the spring, the university had announced that, beginning in the fall of 2003, it would charge its 3,772 international students a fee of $50 per semester and $25 for the summer session. The $125 annual fee, the university said, was to help it cover the cost of implementing SEVIS.

SEVIS was first introduced in 1996 under the Illegal Immigration and Alien Act to electronically monitor and track international students' activity and serve as a surveillance system between universities/colleges and the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). The primary purpose of the system is to track students' whereabouts, a goal the federal government has said is more urgent in the wake of Sept. 11, 2001.

When UW announced the fee, the international caucus of TAA formed a coalition of students, faculty, staff and academic departments, which campaigned for more than a month to remove the fee. Just before the university made its decision, the Madison City Council passed a resolution against the fee, a final step in pressuring the university to waive it.

"We commend the university for recognizing that the funding for SEVIS implementation needs to be equitable. Forcing international students to pay for this disservice is morally outrageous," says Shireen Ally, chair of the TAA international caucus. "SEVIS is an administrative obligation of the university that should be funded the same way as all other similar responsibilities."

Over the summer, the university set up a committee, which includes TAA members,  to create a policy for funding future costs of SEVIS.

The AFT has expressed concerns about SEVIS since its introduction, and has lobbied to ensure that the system poses no academic barrier for students, faculty or institutions.

--Heather Raiti