After a lengthy series of contract negotiations, members of the Eastern Michigan University Federation of Teachers (EMUFT) endorsed the work of their bargaining team as polls closed on contract ratification last Thursday evening. In a 91-0 vote in favor of ratifying the proposed contract, contingent faculty at Eastern Michigan University won a series of benefits, including a pathway to better job security. The contract creates an evaluation system based on a faculty self-evaluation, a class observation conducted by someone within a faculty member's department, student feedback, and a review of a professor's class syllabus. With enough positive evaluations, an instructor will be eligible for two semester appointments, an improvement over the term-to-term appointments many adjunct faculty now receive.

The new contract also includes:

• A change from at will employment to just cause language

• A first ever salary floor of $1,125 per credit hour (giving at least 70% of faculty in the bargaining unit a raise)

• Longevity bonuses ranging from $100-$400 for contingent faculty who have worked at EMU for at least 8 semesters

• A formal grievance process

• Two days pay leave per semester and bereavement leave under Family Medical Leave Act

• Parking passes

This is an important victory for EMU contingent faculty and another step towards improving the working conditions of contingent faculty - and quality of education for students - across the country. Congratulations EMUTF on your new contract!

In the latest round of union busting efforts, Saint Xavier University in Chicago is challenging the formation of a union among its part-time faculty at its Chicago and Orland Park campuses.  The campaign for a union on campus is being organized by the NEA/IEA and is supported by the American Federation of Teachers. The AFT, in collaboration with the AFL-CIO, has filed a "friend of the court" brief challenging the argument that contingent faculty at Saint Xavier University do not have the right to form a union based on the United States Supreme Court decision in Catholic Bishop. In Catholic Bishop, the Supreme Court ruled that faculty at church operated schools that teach both religion and secular subjects could not be subject to the National Labor Relations Board jurisdiction. The court reasoned that in an environment where religious authority "pervades the school system" that it would be impossible for a separation to exist between the "religious and purely secular aspects of pre-college education." Though this specific case dealt with teachers in parochial K-12 schools, the NLRB has been evaluating all religious-affiliated colleges on a case by case basis, a process solidified by the 2002 Great Falls case. In Great Falls, the D.C. District court held that a college must " (a) hold itself out to the public as a religious institution; (b) is non-profit; and (c) is religiously affiliated" in order to be excluded from NLRB jurisdiction.

The AFT and the AFL-CIO argue that rather than implementing a three-part test to determine whether a school is beyond the NLRB's jurisdiction (as Saint Xavier University is advocating) that the real determinative question of Catholic Bishop is not whether a particular college is religious in nature, but whether the faculty members in the petitioned-for unit perform a religious function. The Catholic Bishop decision does not "exclude church-operated schools, as entire units, from the coverage of the NLRA." In addition, the Catholic Board decision only excludes teachers who are under an "obligation...to imbue and indoctrinate the student body with the tenets of religious faith," from NLRB jurisdiction. Based on these aspects of the decision it follows that, in determining whether a unit of employees is excluded from NLRB jurisdiction, one must look at whether the employees themselves are performing a religious function rather than if the school in question is a "religious institution."

On  the St. Xavier University website, the  "University Philosophy Statement," publicly claims that it maintains "an atmosphere of intellectual rigor made possible by academic freedom" in which "University faculty develop and teach courses in their areas of advanced study, extend research in their disciplines, produce scholarly and creative work and serve the University and community." In fact, the University has to demonstrate that it "has approved and disseminated statements supporting freedom of inquiry for the organization's students, faculty, and staff, and honor those statements in its practices." Yet, when it comes down to whether their adjunct faculty can organize for the purpose of collective bargaining, the University argues that it is a religious institution and therefore exempt from NRLB jurisdiction. How can an institution that claims to embrace and practice academic freedom turn around and tell its faculty that they do not have the right to form a union?  It seems that St. Xavier wants the image of an institution that embraces academic freedom but does not want to live up to its expectations as a fair employer.The AFT will continue to support the NEA/IEA in their efforts to organize faculty at St. Xavier University. 

The full Illinois Education Labor Relations Board (IELRB) has just certified the University of Illinois United Faculty as the representative of all faculty-- tenured, tenure-track and non-tenure track faculty-in a single bargaining unit.  What's that?  Didn't that already happen, you ask?  Why yes, yes it did. 

A quick review of the timeline will show that in late April 2011 a majority of faculty filed authorization cards signaling the desire to have UIC United Faculty represent them for the purposes of collective bargaining.  The UIC Board of Trustee filed a motion to dismiss in an attempt to split the union in two.  In late May the IELRB rejected that motion to dismiss.  Then in July the IELRB Administrative Law Judge rules that UIC United Faculty be certified as the exclusive representative for UIC faculty in a unit that combines both tenured and non-tenured faculty.  Not good enough for the UIC Board of Trustees which then filed an exception to the ruling which brings us to today where again, the IELRB rules that UIC should bargaining with UIC United Faculty on behalf of all faculty.

Will this one stick?  Perhaps third time will be the charm!  Or maybe, we will once again see the UIC Board of Trustees and administration choose to stall, delay and waste taxpayer dollars on litigation rather than sit down and bargain in good faith.

Regardless, we congratulate all of the faculty members at UIC for standing strong and standing together. 

Read the full press release below.

__________________________________________

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Dave Comerford (IFT)
Phone 217/544-8562

September 15, 2011

Union Wins, UIC United Faculty Demands to Bargain

CHICAGO-Today, the full Illinois Education Labor Relations Board (IELRB) ruled in favor of the faculty union at the University of Illinois-Chicago (UIC), certifying the group as one bargaining unit. UIC United Faculty will immediately contact the administration to bargain a first contract.

In April of this year, representatives of UIC United Faculty jointly organized by the American Federation of Teachers, the Illinois Federation of Teachers and the American Association of University Professors, delivered hundreds of signed union authorization cards to the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board, more than the majority needed to certify the union under Illinois law. The faculty voted to have one union represent tenured, tenure-track and non-tenure track faculty.

Based on the Board's Certification, the UIC United Faculty will contact the University Administration to discuss how they can work together to strengthen the university and ensure that UIC continues to provide the highest quality education to its students. The union hopes that the administration will respect the will of the faculty and realize that collaboration through collective bargaining is the best avenue to achieve the University's mission of research, teaching, and service.

The Administration has said it plans to appeal any decision of the labor relations in the union's favor. UIC United Faculty considers the administration's commitment to endless legal appeals abusive and a misappropriation of student and taxpayer dollars.

"We have followed the law, and previous case law clearly shows that we have every legal right to be recognized as one union," said Lennard Davis, Distinguished Professor in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at UIC. "We call on the administration to work with us to strengthen our university."

For more information, visit http://www.uicunitedfaculty.org.

See if this story has any resonance for you: the new academic term begins next wee, and you receive a call from the department chair alerting you that they've found another course for you to teach. Plenty of time to select texts, place orders with the bookstore and place copies on reserve in the library, write a syllabus and otherwise prepare the course, right? Or maybe this: you've just received your first teaching assignment at a new institution and... well, other than the course title and a room number, that's it. Or maybe even this: last spring, your department chair promised that they'd have a course available for you to teach this fall. However, it's two weeks before the start of classes, and you haven't heard anything.

We've all heard some version of these stories. At some point, we may have been the one's telling it. But up to this point, the stories have remained just that - stories. To get a better idea of the range of practices that are used when hiring contingent faculty, the New Faculty Majority has just put a new survey into the field to gather data on what is occurring as adjunct faculty are entering the classroom in the Fall of 2011. The survey promises to deliver some important insights on how both new and veteran adjunct faculty prepare for their work, and will hopefully, in turn, generate ideas about how to design hiring practices that support faculty in best meeting the needs of their students. If you are a current contingent faculty member, take a few moments from your day and take the New Faculty Majority survey. Your input will be greatly appreciated!

Faculty and students at Long Island University are back in the classroom in Brooklyn today after the Long Island University Faculty Federation administration settled on a contract after a four day strike. The final settlement included a 6.5% increase in base salaries over the 5 year contract and a much-improved health insurance proposal that included the university picking up the dental plan that LIUFF members had previously paid for through the union.

Additionally, the Federation made some important gains for adjunct faculty, including paid office hours, a new grade of "Senior Adjunct" with higher pay (essentially, a promotion ladder), and a commitment to retirement benefits for long-serving adjuncts. The contract serves to highlight what can happen when all faculty stand together for the common good. LIUFF President Edward J. Donahue made this statement on the LIUFF website:

It was also the result of a truly unique process that has united faculty, students, and other members of the LIU community and the outside world as never before.  This contract is the first shot in a struggle to recreate the University.  We were forced into a position to have to fight for even sub-par wage increases as a result of a quarter of a century of stagnation brought on by a central leadership which has repeatedly shown itself lacking the foresight and resources to move this University forward.  It is my hope that this will not be the last shot; that this unique alliance of people who care about LIU, who see the potential in the University, will persevere.  We must continue to work together and build upon what was achieved in order to transform this University into what it can truly be and to tell the truly amazing story of what is accomplished each and every day by students, faculty and staff alike.

We deserve better, LIU IS better and, together, we can realize a brighter future. A future where the leadership provides the vision and resources needed to expand our mission of helping students realize the potential that they themselves may not even be aware of.  A mission of reaching out to the world and being able to say, finally with pride, WE ARE LIU!