FAMCO’s Fight for Fair Healthcare
BY MEGAN DELANEY, GABRIELLE HACKENBERG, AND AMANDA STOJANOV The Faculty Association of Monmouth University (FAMCO) recently finished an extensive reopener with university administration regarding our healthcare costs and plans. We were aware that our members had been overpaying for healthcare for several years and that the administration was diverting costs onto members through the cover…
Education as a Public Good: The Columbia College Faculty Union’s Strike
BY COLUMBIA FACULTY UNION, COLUMBIA COLLEGE CHICAGO This statement was submitted by the Columbia Faculty Union, Local 6602 IFT/AFT, representing part-time faculty at Columbia College Chicago, on Monday, October 30, as they began a strike. In the heart of Chicago, the Columbia Faculty Union (CFAC) represents a diverse group of faculty members, many of whom…
Morehouse and the Academic Labor Movement
BY ANDREW J. DOUGLAS Reposted from the Morehouse Newsroom with permission from the author. Once upon a time a Morehouse professor tried to unionize the faculty. Walter Chivers, the current namesake of the school’s cafeteria, was a professor of sociology at Morehouse College from 1925 until his retirement in 1968. He was also a labor…
A New Contract for the Emerson College LA Chapter of the AAUP
BY CAROLYN BETENSKY And now for a happy story about the power of a union! Mason Richards, the new president of the AAUP chapter of the Los Angeles campus of Emerson College (ELAF-AAUP), met with me to discuss his chapter’s recent success, achieved with the help of the national AAUP staff, in securing a vastly…
Rutgers Unions Prepare to Surf the Strike Wave
BY HANK KALET There has been a strike wave across academia that is altering the landscape for those of us who teach and work in higher education—and Rutgers is poised to join the party. Strikes at The New School, the University of California system, the University of Illinois Chicago, and threats by faculty, adjuncts, and…
The TUGSA Strike—and Temple’s Three Strikes against Academic Freedom
BY PATRICIA NAVARRA “Employers threatening to cut off benefits is not uncommon, but actually doing it is,” offered Bethany Kosmicki, Temple University Graduate Students Association (TUGSA) past president and member of the negotiating committee, as she discussed the TUGSA strike with National Public Radio. Yet health care benefits were deactivated for graduate teaching assistants this…
Collective Bargaining to Reprofessionalize the Faculty
BY JORDAN HARPER AND ADRIANNA KEZAR In the winter 2023 issue of Academe, our article “Reprofessionalizing the Faculty” highlights campuses that are making systemic changes to better support non-tenure-track faculty, including Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Penn State, and the University of Denver. These institutions provided insights into why supporting non-tenure-track faculty is advantageous for student success…
UC Asks Faculty to Report on Their Work during Strike
POSTED BY HANK REICHMAN During the recent landmark strike by some 48,000 graduate student employees in the University of California system, many Senate (tenure-track) faculty members chose to honor picket lines in various ways. Such sympathy actions are legal, but employers are entitled under the law to dock the pay of anyone who does not…
CUCFA Statement on Possible Strike by UC Student Employees
BY THE COUNCIL OF UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA FACULTY ASSOCIATIONS (CUCFA) The following statement was released on October 30. Graduate students, postdocs, and other academic student employees are essential to the teaching and research mission of the University of California, especially as undergraduate enrollments rise. Given the escalating costs of living in California, 48,000 people in…