CSU Management’s Shameful Positions on Academic Freedom and Faculty Intellectual Property
BY HANK REICHMAN In Fall 2017 the California Faculty Association (CFA), an AAUP-affiliated union representing nearly 28,000 California State University (CSU) faculty, librarians, counselors, and coaches, and CSU management agreed to extend their collective bargaining agreement. As part of that agreement, the sides agreed to continue negotiations over academic freedom and intellectual property with the…
Letter from a Graduate Instructor: Why We Need a Union @ Marquette University
BY STEVEN VICKERS Twenty visits to a doctor, thirty-two tests or screenings, six doctors, and countless pills: this is my new reality. In the summer of 2018, I began feeling flushed and nauseated. I would wake at 3am and run to the toilet to empty the contents of my stomach. I would go purchase diapers…
Solidarity!
BY HANK REICHMAN In case you missed it (I had!) check out this great reggae tribute to teachers’ strikes by Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul (that’s Steve Van Zandt of E Street Band and Wire fame), featuring Diane Ravitch. Last Fall Van Zandt began a Teacher Solidarity Tour, which will, I hope, continue…
Solidarity Notices
POSTED BY MARTIN KICH Walkouts Held at 3 Seattle Community Colleges to Protest Funding Crisis Faculty, staff and students at South Seattle College, Seattle Central College and North Seattle College participated in walkouts on their campuses from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday [April 16]. They say state funding has dropped, causing tuition to rise to…
Confronting a Medical Crisis as a Contingent Faculty Member
BY COLLEEN DALY MARTINEZ WITH MARIAN AHN THORPE The part-time lecturer (PTL) unit of the Rutgers AAUP-AFT union is fighting for longer, more secure contracts, salary increases, and healthcare for PTLs. The full-time faculty and graduate unit reached a tentative agreement on April 16. Marian Ahn Thorpe, a graduate member of Rutgers AAUP-AFT, interviewed PTL…
Recent Wins for the AAUP
BY JULIE SCHMID As we move into the final months of the academic year, I wanted to share updates about three recent wins. These three successes emphasize the power of collective action and solidarity—among chapter members; among the national AAUP and our state conferences and chapters; and among faculty, students, and the community—when we all…
The Aftermath of Janus v. AFSCME
BY LEO WELCH Leo Welch is the Vice President of the Illinois AAUP. The anti-union right-wing Republicans finally got a U.S. Supreme Court decision that they predicted would destroy unions once and for all. The Janus decision was preceded by two other attempts which included Abood v. Detroit Board of Education which held that union…
The NAS Attacks Free Speech for Unions
BY JOHN K. WILSON I was intrigued by a Facebook post yesterday from the National Association of Scholars which announced, “Want a promotion? Too bad; you’re not a union member, says St. Cloud State.” That’s a shocking claim. Or it would be, except that there’s no evidence that it’s true. The post linked to an…
University of New Mexico Faculty Petition for Union Election
POSTED BY AAUP STAFF A clear majority of faculty at the University of New Mexico have declared their support for unionization in an official election petition filed today with the UNM Labor Management Relations Board. The UNM bargaining unit, comprising more than 1,600 full- and part-time faculty on five campuses—UNM’s main campus, in Albuquerque; UNM-Gallup;…