As we move into 2022, newly empowered by the rising tide of labor organizing and union actions across the country, the Adjunct Faculty & Lecturer Organizing Committee (AFLOC) is planning more actions to demand that SCU allow its adjunct faculty and lecturers to decide for ourselves if we would like to unionize. We need and deserve a free and fair election. We think 2022 will be a good year. Please join us!
UC Lecturers Obtain Raises and Family Leave Thanks to Their Unionization
6,500 UC lecturers called off a planned 2-day strike after their union negotiated salary increases of 30% over 5 years. According to this Cal Matters article, the strike would have cancelled 30% of all UC classes. That number might be an underestimate given that 800 tenure track faculty had agreed to strike in solidarity. Nice to see such support amongst colleagues! Hopefully these raises will provide some stability all around. The Cal Matters articles states that about 1,400 lecturers leave the UC system every year, representing 1/4 of that work force.
CSU Faculty Union Negotiates Raises, Pandemic Bonus and Path to Tenure
Thanks to their union negotiators, California State University faculty are expected to receive an immediate 4% raise and a $3,500 pandemic bonus. In addition, their pay could increase by nearly 15% over the next two years. Further, if ratified by the Trustees, the negotiated contract includes a path to tenure, requiring campuses to interview their qualified lecturers who apply for tenure-track positions. There are other aspects of the contract, such as creating working groups to assess parental leave and options to on-campus police.
Pope Francis & World Day of Peace
Members of AFLOC would like to share this World Day of Peace message from Pope Francis on how dialogue between generations builds peace, how teaching and education can be drivers of peace, and on how creating and ensuring fundamental human rights of workers and labor builds peace. The full document is about 5 pages. The Pope has already voiced his support for labor unions in previous letters and encyclicals, a position that is, as one would expect from a Pope and a Jesuit, aligned with Catholic Social Teaching. CST does not suggest we merely promote the idea of unions as long as they are elsewhere, using the "we support them for people other than ourselves" argument, while neglecting to support them in our own context and community of people who labor. Labor and organized labor are foundations of our democracy and pro-labor stances deserve to be modeled, taught, enacted and experienced by employees at SCU. Here's to being a part of building that peace that is derived from labor justice!
LA Times: Colleges’ Reliance on Adjunct Faculty Gives These Part-Timers More Power, If They Choose To Use It!
A recent editorial by the LA Times Editorial Board correctly identified that "Increasingly, the work of instructing students now rests with lecturers or adjuncts — non-tenure-track faculty, almost always working part time for less money and with almost no job security." Citing the recent UC agreement, the editorial board notes that the increased presence of adjunct faculty also brings POWER! "As higher education hires more adjuncts, it also relies on them more. Colleges and universities can’t fulfill their teaching mission without them — which gives part-timers more power, if they choose to use it."
They showcase a new book, "Power Despite Precarity: Strategies for the Contingent Faculty Movement in Higher Education." In paraphrasing one of the authors, the editorial notes, "the tentative UC agreement ... has awakened a sense of the possible in adjunct faculty nationwide and should be seen by higher education as a warning shot. Only about 20% of non-tenure-track faculty are unionized, a number that probably will rise now." We like the sound of this!
So Let's Get Powerful!
Make no mistake. AFLOC will keep asking for a free and fair election until we get one. We will continue our on-campus visibility beginning week 2. Stay tuned!
Step One is for You: Please Sign (and Re-sign!) Union Cards
We continue our efforts to collect signed union cards from EVERY eligible adjunct faculty and lecturer employee that will be represented in our future union. If you are a QAL, AYAL, RTL, or Senior Lecturer WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT!!! Please take a moment to click this link and sign your card today. Signed cards are strictly confidential and the administration will not see that you have signed.
Why sign a card? It lets the union organizers know that you are in favor of having a union represent you to negotiate with the employer for better compensation, benefits, and working conditions. It also allows us to have an accurate gauge of our support. Signing a card is a VERY IMPORTANT first step.
All union cards are only good for one year, so if you think that you have previously signed but are not sure if your card is still current, please sign a card again. You will not be counted twice and it is better to sign again, rather than have your card expire.
If you are unsure about where you stand on the union movement and would like to learn more, please email us at scuafloc@gmail.com.
Supporting Our Students
We continue our efforts to support student mental health, after a trying Fall term. We believe that one way to support the students is to work as a community to address the pressing issues that keep SCU from being the place we all want it to be. Together we are strong!
Yours in Service,
Dawn, Stephanie, Maggie, Natalie, Deirdre, Andrew, Robin, Madeline, Derek, Mary, Kristin & Ruth