What Your Colleagues Are Saying

 

Did we sign that?

During one of our frequent conversations about why we adjuncts need a union, my office-mate and I decided to take a look at the letter containing the “Offer of Adjunct Faculty Appointment” that we had each signed at the beginning of the fall semester. Several things jumped out at us as we read. For one thing, it gives the period of appointment through May 30, 2009, and then says, “There is no promise or guarantee of any subsequent appointment.” Well, there’s one good reason to have a union: it would be nice to know that we will have a job beyond the end of each semester.

But there’s more: the letter emphasizes that the Dean has “sole discretion” to cancel the courses we adjuncts teach if, in her wisdom, she deems it “necessary” to do so. At this point, my office-mate and I looked at each other and blurted out, “Did we sign that?” Being utterly at the mercy of an administrator who may decide to do away with our classes – and our pay – makes unionization the only plausible strategy.

And then there’s the take-it-or-leave-it nature of the offer: “[T]he terms of appointment included in this letter may not be modified or altered by any oral statements or representations or by any written statements or representations.” Now, in my department, we get an email a few days before the semester starts, telling us to come sign our letters of appointment before we start teaching. So most of us end up signing our “contracts” right before we walk into class the first day; and there sit the terms in front of us -- non-negotiable, not subject to modification by anything we might do.

We could really use a union to give us the power to negotiate collectively over the terms and conditions in that appointment letter. It’s gratifying to think that after we vote for collective bargaining representation ( the union), we will no longer be forced to live with individual “contracts” that leave us asking, “Did we sign that?”

Amy Weigand

Department of Religion

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As a graduate student without funding, working as an adjunct at Temple University is the most viable employment for me at this time. Given this, it is important to me that my position as an adjunct instructor remains a reliable means of subsistence. Organizing for the AOC is a way to enact positive action that will bring about real change for adjuncts in our employment status. Through a strong organization, we give ourselves the opportunity to legitimize our profession by bargaining for better benefits and job security, and by promoting and cultivating an overall sense of professional respect among each other and among full-time faculty. I am proud to declare my allegiance to the AOC’s organizing efforts.

Eric Casero

Liberal Arts

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I’ve been involved in the effort for an adjuncts union at Temple for a long time and everything that happens confirms for me exactly why. Administration paid almost no attention to adjuncts until now – when we get close to an election to have a union speak for us. So they counter with health benefits for some adjuncts, and an orientation session – with refreshments – to get addresses and begin to build a relationship between top management and adjuncts. I want a union to be an equal voice with administration about benefits like health care. We need to say what works for most of us, not what plan is easy to administer. And we need to have that say about lots of issues, from salary to working conditions. That’s why I am working for the Adjuncts Organizing Committee of the Temple Association of University Professionals.

Regina Bannan

American Studies

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"It's refreshing to see an organization invested in the labor we do and interested in us as contributors to the intellectual life of the University.  The AOC is working hard to ensure that everyone - from full time faculty to undergraduate students - recognizes that our efforts are critical to the operation of the University, and that, as fully qualified academics and trained teachers, we deserve to be treated like the professionals we are.  That means they are fighting for some kind of healthcare coverage for us, and for some guarantee of fiscal reward for continued quality performance as instructors.  I believe every adjunct should get involved with this organization; it's our only path towards winning rights that ought to be basic to all laborers in America."

Andrew Dixon
English Adjunct