COCAL is the Coalition of Contingent Academic Labor, a nearly 20 year old network of contingent activists and their organizations that does a conference (now tri-national – USA, CAN (including QBC) , and MEX) every other year, usually in August. It also sponsors a listserv, called ADJ-L, and has an International Advisory Committee and a website www.cocalinternational.org and Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/COCALInternational>.
These updates are compiled and distributed weekly by Joe Berry and are reprinted here with his permission. These are the updates from June 11, 2016.
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The Coalition of Contingent Academic Labour (COCAL) is a network of North American activists working to improve higher education by improving the work environment of contingent academic labourers. They strive to achieve job reliability, better wages, academic freedom, time and resources for academic research and professional development. Every other year, COCAL offers an international conference that welcomes delegates from Canada, the U.S., and Mexico. The twelfth COCAL Conference (COCAL XII) will be heldAugust 5-7, 2016 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
http://us11.campaign-archive1.com/?u=7f282aa335e6f2089aa4c6b74&id=4ff4564b5c&e=[UNIQID]
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COCAL is the Coalition of Contingent Academic Labor, a nearly 20 year old network of contingent activists and their organizations that does a conference (now tri-national – USA, CAN (including QBC) , and MEX) every other year, usually in August. It also sponsors a listserv, called ADJ-L, and has an International Advisory Committee and a website www.cocalinternational.org and Facebook page <https://www.facebook.com/COCALInternational>.
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CCSF STRUGGLE NEWS
NOTE: Donate to AFT 2121 fund to help the fight for the CCSF that SF deserves. This will help fund their hardship fund in the event of a strike. Remember that 60% of CCSF faculty are PT and that SF has the highest rents in the USA. Be generous, please.
https://simplecheckout.authorize.net/payment/CatalogPayment.aspx
1. National report find various accreditors’ actions very uneven regarding sanctions and clearly shows ACCJC as an outlier regading % of accredited institutions sanctioned
2. A complicated message, but worth your reading
http://www.aft2121.org/2016/06/fool-us-once/
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INTERNATIONAL
1. Why are Mexican teachers being jailed for opposing education reform?
http://www.thenation.com/article/why-are-mexican-teachers-being-jailed-for-protesting-education-reform/
and 6 are now confirmed dead
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/at-least-six-dead-as-education-protesters-clash-with-police/2016/06/20/41e6e8fc-3705-11e6-af02-1df55f0c77ff_story.html
and http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-36572423
and Death toll rises as government represses dissent
http://portside.org/2016-06-22/death-toll-rises-oaxaca-govt-represses-teacher-protests
and http://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/06/22/teacher-killings-ignite-calls-revolution-mexico
and a very good article, https://socialistworker.org/2016/06/23/police-terror-in-oaxaca-against-teachers
2. CA Fed of Teachers President’s appeal for support for Mexican teachers.
3. Junior faculty at Ben Gurion U (Israel) to strike over layoffs and cuts
http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/1.726141
4. Chicago teachers organize support for Mexican colleagues
http://inthesetimes.com/working/entry/19241/chicago_teachers_organize_in_support_of_mexican_colleagues_after_violent_cl
5. Britain – Why Higher ed matters, interview with author of new book which is a collection of columns from higher ed union newspaper
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2016/06/13/author-discusses-his-new-book-about-why-higher-education-matters
6. San Francisco community protest in support of Mexican teachers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RrK-S3Q9qs
7. Ireland: the increasingly precarious life of an academic
http://www.irishtimes.com/news/education/the-increasingly-precarious-life-of-an-academic-1.2203894#.VVNau3bkUyw.twitter
8. Turkey – Academics freed from jail pending lesser chrarges than terrorism
http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20160622192554536
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UPDATES IN BRIEF AND LINKS
1. UNITED ASSOC. FOR LABOR EDUCATION summer schools for union women, in all 4 regions of US.
2. PSC settles TA at CUNY
https://academeblog.org/2016/06/16/professional-staff-congress-reaches-contract-deal-with-cuny/
3. U Mass Boston supporters protest adjunct faculty cuts
http://blogs.wgbh.org/on-campus/2016/6/15/umass-boston-supporters-protest-looming-adjunct-faculty-cuts/
4. USW withdraws petition to unionize Chatham U adjuncts
http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/news/2016/06/17/union-withdraws-bid-to-unionize-chatham-adjuncts.html
http://triblive.com/news/adminpage/10649727-74/chatham-faculty-petition
5. Teacher unions bargaining for the common good
http://prospect.org/article/teacher-unions-are-‘bargaining-common-good’
6. The master-servant relationship at work today
https://newunionism.wordpress.com/2016/06/18/the-masterservant-relationship-by-peter-hall-jones/
7. What can labor learn from the Sanders campaign?
https://www.jacobinmag.com/2016/06/bernie-sanders-labor-unions-socialism-taft-hartley-class-struggle-strikes/
8. Long time FTNTT faculty member terminated after 27 years with no reason given at Bradley U (IL), AAUP protests
https://academeblog.org/2016/06/20/douglas-antola-crowe-and-the-exploitation-of-full-time-non-tenure-track-faculty/
9. Champlain Col. (VT) adjunct negotiations sour over pay (SEIU)
https://vtdigger.org/2016/06/20/champlain-college-2/
10. Latest isue of Inequality.org
http://inequality.org/thisweek/
11. OK City public schools admins are soliciting private donations to help them hire adjunct K-12 teachers. (I do not think this is a joke, but I could be mistaken.)
http://www.koco.com/news/okcps-officials-release-regulations-on-how-to-donate-to-adjunct-teachers/40140730
12. Adjunct-themed cartoon caption contest
https://www.insidehighered.com/content/cartoon-no-43
13. Why a North Carolina teacher blocked traffic demanding better for her students, and was arrested with dozens of others
https://www.facebook.com/ancastef/posts/10154287668216410
14. Your professors are in the struggle and they’re not winning yet
http://gawker.com/your-professors-are-in-the-struggle-and-theyre-not-winn-1782353354
15. Blame high tuition on bloated executive slaries, not new overtime rules for adjuncts and grad employees
http://www.bostonmagazine.com/news/blog/2016/06/21/tuition-costs-overtime/
16. Poster worth a chuckle, from our colleague Lydia Field Snow in IL
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10209670938713148&set=gm.1111454708895880&type=3&theater
17. Reports from the People’s Summit in Chicago, including the Labor for Bernie meeting held there
http://portside.org/2016-06-22/there-was-no-clear-agenda-people’s-summit—and-’s-good-thing
18. Contingent car washers get record settlement, from Morning Shift
CAR WASHERS REACH LANDMARK SETTLEMENT: From NBC’s Brian Latimer: “A group of Latino car wash employees, all immigrants, will see the largest per-worker wage settlement ever awarded in their line of work. After years of litigation, 18 Latino car wash employees in the New York and New Jersey area will split a $1.65 million settlement for wage theft and emotional distress.”
“Each worker will receive, on average, about $91,000, and the two plaintiffs who worked the longest received almost $200,000 each.” http://nbcnews.to/28LXOt2
19. Check out the website of the developing Center for the Study of Academic Labor at CO ST U
http://csal.colostate.edu/
20. Latest edition out of the Journal of Collective Bargaining in the Academy, with two articles focusing especially on contingent faculty.
http://thekeep.eiu.edu/jcba/vol7/iss1/
21. State College of FL cuts job security even more, goes to one-year contracts
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2016/06/23/state-college-florida-replaces-three-year-contracts-professors-one-year-contracts?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=20043daa84-DNU20160623&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-20043daa84-197454541
22. PA teacher convicted of corrupting youth by helping them demonstrate against racism
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3655967/Pennsylvania-high-school-teacher-led-student-protests-convicted-corruption-youth.html#ixzz4CPC6oR3e
23. New student debt scheme turns students into stock options
http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/36543-new-student-debt-scheme-turns-students-into-stock-options
24. Excellent paper on Bernie and Beyond that every union member should read (and other workers too) by Peter Olney, former Org. Dir of ILWU and labor educator
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1kCQvl-caSVacw0OKdJ3-FNuoMyw5uf7gLQWmzQgM4s0/edit?link_id=6&can_id=587b791e1946e2adaf17ca20e5e3d480&source=email-are-you-a-delegate-to-the-dnc-and-notes-from-lfb-meet-up-at-peoples-summit&email_referrer=are-you-a-delegate-to-the-dnc-and-notes-from-lfb-meet-up-at-peoples-summit&email_subject=are-you-a-delegate-to-the-dnc-and-notes-from-lfb-meet-up-at-peoples-summit
25. Adjuncts and general membership meetings. (from our colleague Geoff Johnson in San Diego, well worth the read)
https://adjunctcrisis.com/2016/06/24/adjunct-engagement-via-the-general-membership-meeting-or-rather-the-lack-thereof/
26. Strike looms closer in PA State system of Higher Ed (not Penn State)
http://www.pennlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2016/06/state_universities_faculty_uni_3.html
and why the contract’s treatment of temporary faculty matters to tenure track faculty
http://www.compositionist.net/blog/-why-the-contracts-treatment-of-temporary-faculty-matters-to-tenure-line-faculty
27. Ithaca College contingents show suppoort for fair unified (FT & PT) contract
https://theithacan.org/opinion/open-letter-contingent-faculty-show-support-for-unified-fair-contract/
28. A case for adjunct faculty to organize at Catholic institutions
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2016/06/13/author-discusses-his-new-book-about-why-higher-education-matters
29. Profs and students protest layoffs at U of Chicago
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-university-of-chicago-finances-met-20160624-story.html
30. See Target’s anti-union video for new employees.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8ZSNDsz5vg&feature=share
31. Adjunct faculty presentation by Jack Longmate at Juneteenth event
http://americanfacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2016/06/adjunct-discussion-at-juneteenth-event_23.html
32. June E-note from the National Center for the Study of CB in HE (lots of good news on organizing)
http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs161/1102372137664/archive/1124876133787.html
33. Tenured faculty need to be more involved in hiring
https://www.insidehighered.com/views/2016/06/28/tenured-faculty-should-help-battle-opportunities-graduate-students-and-adjuncts
34. Your college student may be taught by a part-time professor
https://www.consumeraffairs.com/news/your-college-student-may-be-taught-by-a-part-time-professor-062816.html
35. Labor Research and Action Network to hold Chicago conference (with big focus on contigent faculty as bridge)
http://portside.org/2016-06-28/labor-research-and-action-network-aims-connect-researchers-and-scholars-labor-movement
Reblogged this on Ohio Higher Ed.