The Quick & Dirty FAQ's (For academics who don't like to do homework!)
• Why this union? SEIU has been organizing adjuncts nationwide since 2008 and currently represents over 21,000 adjuncts, including our colleagues (and many of us, as well) who teach at SFAI, Mills and the California State University system. By joining SEIU we build on this growing network and participate in a strong union that has a proven track record for improving adjunct working conditions. This is the union that is doing the most to support adjunct faculty throughout the country.
• What can SEIU provide? Other schools have seen pay increases ranging between 11-44% as well as increased job security, health and retirement benefits, and most importantly, a legal framework that enables faculty to negotiate contracts as equals (i.e., collective bargaining rights). SEIU provides their negotiating experience, legal expertise, and a widespread support network.
• How much will dues be? After we successfully negotiate and vote to ratify our first union contract (and not before then) our dues will be 1.74% of our gross teaching pay. There are no initiation fees.
• How does a union work? A union cannot force CCA to pay adjuncts untenable salaries. A union simply guarantees our right to sit at the negotiating table as equals and bargain contracts that help establish a just and sustainable workplace. During the bargaining process, the employer (CCA) is legally required to be transparent with its finances. Once both sides agree on the negotiated contract, CCA's adjunct faculty are then given an opportunity to vote on ratifying the contract. Under this legal framework, it is extraordinarily unlikely that the CCA administration would ever negotiate a contract that would lead to financial ruin, and equally unlikely that we, as faculty, would ever ratify a contract that would put CCA (and us) out of business.
For more detailed info, please read below...
• Why this union? SEIU has been organizing adjuncts nationwide since 2008 and currently represents over 21,000 adjuncts, including our colleagues (and many of us, as well) who teach at SFAI, Mills and the California State University system. By joining SEIU we build on this growing network and participate in a strong union that has a proven track record for improving adjunct working conditions. This is the union that is doing the most to support adjunct faculty throughout the country.
• What can SEIU provide? Other schools have seen pay increases ranging between 11-44% as well as increased job security, health and retirement benefits, and most importantly, a legal framework that enables faculty to negotiate contracts as equals (i.e., collective bargaining rights). SEIU provides their negotiating experience, legal expertise, and a widespread support network.
• How much will dues be? After we successfully negotiate and vote to ratify our first union contract (and not before then) our dues will be 1.74% of our gross teaching pay. There are no initiation fees.
• How does a union work? A union cannot force CCA to pay adjuncts untenable salaries. A union simply guarantees our right to sit at the negotiating table as equals and bargain contracts that help establish a just and sustainable workplace. During the bargaining process, the employer (CCA) is legally required to be transparent with its finances. Once both sides agree on the negotiated contract, CCA's adjunct faculty are then given an opportunity to vote on ratifying the contract. Under this legal framework, it is extraordinarily unlikely that the CCA administration would ever negotiate a contract that would lead to financial ruin, and equally unlikely that we, as faculty, would ever ratify a contract that would put CCA (and us) out of business.
For more detailed info, please read below...
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ's)
President Stephen Beal recently posted an FAQ on the CCA website regarding the upcoming election. Although he has called for an "open and deliberative process, one that promotes an informed electorate", some of the language of their FAQ clearly leans towards an anti-union bias. We hope that this FAQ can help answer general questions and clarify some particulars. To better promote an informed electorate, we have followed the same FAQ order that appears on the CCA site, making changes only where we feel it is necessary. Please note: It was recently noticed that the administration has since changed some of the information they previously posted on their FAQ page on the CCA website (perhaps in response to this site). While it is nice to see that they have removed some of their more provocative comments, we will leave our original commentary intact in order to provide greater insight into the issues at hand.
What is SEIU? How is it related to Adjunct Action? SEIU is an acronym for Service Employees International Union. One of the largest unions in the country, SEIU represents approximately 2.1 million individuals in a variety of occupations. SEIU represents a wide variety of occupations in professional and service industries such as healthcare workers, non-profit organizations, maintenance workers, museums, and government workers. Their national campaign, Adjunct Action, is working directly to unionize adjunct and contingent faculty at a number of schools across the country, including at Georgetown University, Northeastern, and Maryland Institute College of Design, to name but a few. Currently, SEIU represents over 21,000 adjunct and contingent faculty nationwide, including faculty in the California State University system. The SEIU affiliate for the Bay Area is Local 1021. Visit the Adjunct Action website for more information.
What does it mean to be represented by a union? A union is its members - not a "third party". When we vote to form a union at CCA and affiliate with SEIU, we are that union. Nothing about having a union compels adjuncts not to speak directly to administrators, or vice versa. Rather, being a part of a union gives us a legal structure to bring both parties (admin and faculty) to the negotiating table to bargain for the terms and conditions of our employment, including wages, benefits, and other working conditions. A union also provides us with the support and resources (lawyers, representation, negotiating experience, and a wider network of worker support from other unionized workers in the Bay Area and beyond). Contingent working conditions are by definition unstable, and we need support and resources to be able to negotiate effectively on our own behalf.
What are the requirements of union membership? Membership in SEIU is free until: 1) we’ve formed our union; 2) bargained our first contract; and 3) voted as a group to approve our contract. We don’t pay any dues until we know exactly what gains we’ve achieved through bargaining. After we have approved our first contract, dues are 1.74% of your base teaching pay (gross). To put this in perspective, unionized adjuncts at other schools have negotiated pay increases of 11-44%. If an employee belongs to a union, the employee does not usually have the ability to opt out of the requirement to pay dues. However, they receive all of the benefits of the union and the contract we ultimately vote on together.
What other colleges are represented by SEIU Local 1021? Within the last couple of months, the adjunct instructors at Mills College and San Francisco Art Institute voted to be represented by Local 1021. They have already begun their contract negotiations. Although we don't yet know what gains they will make there, let's look at some gains that adjunct faculty have made at other schools since unionizing with SEIU:
• At California State Universities: across the board Cost of Living Allowances, compensation for cancelled classes, and health/retirement benefits for everyone teaching at least 2 classes.
• At George Washington University: new rates per course, equaling 30% increases, or more.
• At Montgomery College: a 14% increase in pay and a framework for reaching pay parity with full-time faculty over a number of years
• American University: increased job security (part-time faculty who have taught a course 3 times are reappointed unless there are extenuating circumstances)
• At all of the above: A "just cause" standard has been applied for all discipline and dismissal, requiring the employer to provide substantial evidence to justify the action.
Is SEIU the only union that represents adjunct faculty? No, there are many unions, and we could potentially choose to organize with AFL-CIO, the United Steelworkers, the Teamsters, the AFT, or anyone else. However, SEIU is successfully organizing adjuncts throughout the country and here in the Bay. By joining SEIU we join a nationwide network, but we also build support with Mills College and San Francisco Art Institute. Many of us already teach at these schools as well, or have friends and partners who do. Together, our coordinated efforts and communication with SEIU affiliates at other schools helps build better working conditions throughout the Bay Area academic community. If the admin is suggesting that we consider looking at AFT or any other union, we should be asking, "What is their motive in doing so?" Based on our accumulated experience as arts/design/humanities faculty in the Bay Area, when has the AFT or any other union approached us to ask about our working conditions in the past, and when have they offered to help?
The Election Process
Why will there be an election to determine whether lecturers and adjunct faculty at CCA want to be unionized by the SEIU? Since last February, SEIU organizers having been working with CCA faculty to collect enough signed postcards stating that we want to have a union election at CCA. These postcards were then filed with the NLRB. On July 15, 2014, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), a labor-management regulatory agency of the federal government, informed President Stephen Beal in a letter that the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 1021 had filed a petition asking for an election among our lecturers and adjunct faculty.
When is the election and how will it be administered? The election will be administered by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). The election is currently expected to be conducted by mail ballot only. The NLRB will mail the ballots to the homes of voting faculty sometime in mid-September, and faculty will have two weeks to complete their ballots and mail them back to the NLRB.
Who is eligible to vote? The “voting unit” (eligible voters) will be as follows:
All regular* unranked faculty employed in the classifications of lecturer, senior lecturer, adjunct professor, and senior adjunct professor in academic-degree granting programs.
* Regular means all unranked faculty in the specified classifications noted above who have, or will have, taught a course in a degree-granting program in Spring 2014, Summer Term 2014, or Fall 2014, unless there is no longer a reasonable expectation by CCA and the employee of continued employment with CCA.
Who is NOT eligible to vote? We feel that the CCA administration's response to this question masquerades as an objective statement, but actually seeks to portray the union effort as somehow exclusive (hint: look for the bold faced "excludes" on their site). Common sense would tell you that if you don't fall into one of the aforementioned categories (lecturer, senior lecturer, adjunct, or senior adjunct), then you are not eligible to vote. Hopefully, if you are teaching at the college level you can figure this one out on your own! And, anyone who has spent any amount of time at CCA knows that not all members of the CCA community face the same professional challenges or have the same degree of power to affect change. Fortunately, our national labor laws take these sorts of things into account, and this is why the National Labor Relations Board has determined that only adjunct faculty are eligible to vote. In short, this is precisely what self-determination looks like: an adjunct faculty union would be comprised of adjunct faculty to address the working conditions of the adjunct faculty.
Should those who can't vote still support our effort to unionize? Yes! We believe that everyone should share in fair working conditions, equitable pay, reasonable access to benefits, and a college where our community members are treated as equals. The CCA community as a whole deserves to be treated fairly, and the current treatment of adjuncts places an additional burden on tenured faculty, staff, students, and many department administrators. When the adjunct faculty vote to join the union, this does not prevent other CCA faculty, staff, and students from unionizing, as well. On the contrary, it raises the standard and expectation of fair treatment across all aspects of college life. This election won't rock the boat or sink the ship. When the tide comes in, we want to see the whole boat rise with everyone on it. An open, collegial atmosphere of mutual respect for all employees at CCA not only secures the best working environment for all of us, but produces the best learning environment for our students.
Do a majority of all eligible voters need to vote “yes” in order to elect SEIU to represent “adjunct” faculty? No. The election will be determined by a majority of those who actually vote, not by a majority of the eligible voters. Therefore, it is critical that all eligible voters do vote, so that the election outcome reflects the views of all faculty members who would be directly affected by it.
If the eligible faculty members vote in favor of SEIU representation, how long will it last? If SEIU Local 1021 is certified to represent CCA faculty, we would remain a part of the union for as long as we see fit. If, at some point, we wanted to break up with SEIU, court a new union, or go solo, there is another legal process much like this one for making our desires known by voting in an election. Again, when we unionize, we are the union and we choose what direction we want to go in. Being a part of a union means being a part of a democratic, participatory process that changes and adapts through collective bargaining.
If an eligible faculty member doesn’t vote for the union, or abstains from voting, and union representation is voted in, must he or she become covered by the union? Note: CCA admin elected to include this question twice in their FAQ. This is a very common talking point in anti-union campaigns across the country, and has led to so-called "right to work" anti-union laws in several states. You can Google it yourself, but here's a helpful link to an article. If faculty vote in favor of representation by SEIU—as determined by a majority of those who vote, not a majority of eligible faculty—then all those in the “bargaining unit” (eligible faculty as determined by the NLRB) would be represented by SEIU for purposes of collective bargaining. Faculty in those classifications as determined by the NLRB would be required to be covered by the union and pay union dues. As stated above, these dues (1.74% of base teaching pay) are paid only after we have successfully bargained our first contract and voted together to approve it. Then, all of the eligible faculty would receive the benefits of that agreement and the resources of the union, regardless of how they voted in the upcoming election.
The College’s Position
What is the college’s position on this issue? Mills College and SFAI faculty just voted to unionize this spring. In both cases the school admin took steps to discourage the formation of the union by launching misinformation campaigns, making veiled threats, hiring lawyers with established anti-union expertise, and firing faculty who led the effort at Mills (SEIU has since filed "unfair labor practice" complaints with the NLRB, and faculty have been given their classes back). Fortunately, the CCA administration has not done anything that appears overtly adversarial, but there are a few indications (the focus of their FAQ, for one) that they are opposed to the formation of a union and are hoping to delay or stall the effort. This is why we are asking that they remain neutral. Neutral means exactly that: no special meetings, no divisive tactics, no shaded statements. Y'know, NEUTRAL. (Please sign this petition that was written by CCA faculty!).
Ultimately, this should not be an "us" vs. "them" issue. Forming a union is NOT about punishing the administration for past or current grievances. It's about establishing a formally-recognized legal structure where faculty can negotiate the terms of their employment without fear of reprisal and in accordance with national labor laws. A union provides collective bargaining rights whereby the admin and faculty would be legally required to sit down as equals and negotiate contracts that both parties consent to. A union won't bankrupt the school, disturb the student learning environment, disenfranchise tenured faculty, or otherwise divide the CCA community. But it can make our school's financial and policy decisions more transparent, which would presumably lead to "an open and deliberative process, one that promotes an informed electorate and underscores the principles of academic freedom".
Additional FAQ's
What about falling enrollment and financial cuts? Can unionization negatively impact the health of fill in the blank (the school, my department, my career, my cat, etc)? Is now really the right time? Yes! The time is now! Falling enrollment and a growing crises in the perceived value of college-level degrees are nationwide issues, related to the spiraling of student debt and the ballooning salaries of a few top administrators. These problems are not going away any time soon. Forming an adjunct union doesn't threaten the health of the school or add to the existing crises. Forming a union means we participate in a legal process to negotiate our contracts with the administration. We don't gain some new superpower to bend the administration to our every whim. But, ironically, this is essentially the power that the administration currently holds over us. If someone blames a faculty union for the financial problems of the school, they're either making a straw man argument or they haven't done their homework to understand how a union functions. Or worse, they're suggesting that the health of the school is dependent upon your silent acquiescence to the precarious terms of your undervalued employment - as they see fit.
Will forming an adjunct union be divisive or erode collegiality between contingent faculty and ranked/tenured faculty? There may be some people who would very much like to pit tenured faculty against contingent faculty, but there is absolutely no rational justification for this argument. An adjunct union cannot negotiate changes to the contracts of tenured or ranked faculty, or any other staff outside of the union. Ranked and Tenured faculty are already overburdened with service obligations, program responsibilities, department management, and other administrative tasks. At present, many departments struggle each semester to round up enough faculty volunteers to effectively fill all of the committees, reviews, and student/teacher commitments. Although adjuncts (nearly 75% of the CCA faculty) are not contractually-obligated to participate in these activities, they are often pressured into doing so for little or no compensation. Conditions such as these are already eroding collegiality at CCA. Forming an adjunct union will help ensure greater parity across all faculty and can help build a more integrated faculty body. As a result, Ranked and Tenured faculty might very well find that their workload outside of the classroom is lighter. Collegiality grows from building fair and respectful relationships, not from maintaining problematic workplace policies.
Why did SEIU wait outside my classroom, call me on my phone, and/or come knocking on my door? A few people have said that they were turned off by SEIU's organizing efforts. On the one hand, we get it; it's annoying to be contacted by strangers who want to talk about something as personal as your job. On the other hand, this is exactly how Cesar Chavez organized the United Farm Workers union. It's at the very core of community organizing to do person-to-person outreach, and it can be a very effective way to build community support. Although it can sometimes feel intrusive or even creepy when an unknown labor organizer knocks on your door, we invite you to remember the not-so-distant past when all of our interpersonal relations weren't conducted through texts, emails, and social media. So, the next time you find yourself posting on Facebook about the alienation inherent in a myopic, over-technologized urban milieu, please take a moment to smile and remember the time an idealistic union organizer awkwardly tried to help you win your collective bargaining rights.
Where would the money come from to pay for these improvements to Adjunct contracts? Can CCA really afford this? We all care about the economic health of our school. However, this is a legitimate question asked in a misleading way. It's often paired with the false assertion that paying adjuncts a living wage will necessarily mean a decline in program funding, financial aid, or other faculty/staff/student resources. Here are the facts:
What is SEIU? How is it related to Adjunct Action? SEIU is an acronym for Service Employees International Union. One of the largest unions in the country, SEIU represents approximately 2.1 million individuals in a variety of occupations. SEIU represents a wide variety of occupations in professional and service industries such as healthcare workers, non-profit organizations, maintenance workers, museums, and government workers. Their national campaign, Adjunct Action, is working directly to unionize adjunct and contingent faculty at a number of schools across the country, including at Georgetown University, Northeastern, and Maryland Institute College of Design, to name but a few. Currently, SEIU represents over 21,000 adjunct and contingent faculty nationwide, including faculty in the California State University system. The SEIU affiliate for the Bay Area is Local 1021. Visit the Adjunct Action website for more information.
What does it mean to be represented by a union? A union is its members - not a "third party". When we vote to form a union at CCA and affiliate with SEIU, we are that union. Nothing about having a union compels adjuncts not to speak directly to administrators, or vice versa. Rather, being a part of a union gives us a legal structure to bring both parties (admin and faculty) to the negotiating table to bargain for the terms and conditions of our employment, including wages, benefits, and other working conditions. A union also provides us with the support and resources (lawyers, representation, negotiating experience, and a wider network of worker support from other unionized workers in the Bay Area and beyond). Contingent working conditions are by definition unstable, and we need support and resources to be able to negotiate effectively on our own behalf.
What are the requirements of union membership? Membership in SEIU is free until: 1) we’ve formed our union; 2) bargained our first contract; and 3) voted as a group to approve our contract. We don’t pay any dues until we know exactly what gains we’ve achieved through bargaining. After we have approved our first contract, dues are 1.74% of your base teaching pay (gross). To put this in perspective, unionized adjuncts at other schools have negotiated pay increases of 11-44%. If an employee belongs to a union, the employee does not usually have the ability to opt out of the requirement to pay dues. However, they receive all of the benefits of the union and the contract we ultimately vote on together.
What other colleges are represented by SEIU Local 1021? Within the last couple of months, the adjunct instructors at Mills College and San Francisco Art Institute voted to be represented by Local 1021. They have already begun their contract negotiations. Although we don't yet know what gains they will make there, let's look at some gains that adjunct faculty have made at other schools since unionizing with SEIU:
• At California State Universities: across the board Cost of Living Allowances, compensation for cancelled classes, and health/retirement benefits for everyone teaching at least 2 classes.
• At George Washington University: new rates per course, equaling 30% increases, or more.
• At Montgomery College: a 14% increase in pay and a framework for reaching pay parity with full-time faculty over a number of years
• American University: increased job security (part-time faculty who have taught a course 3 times are reappointed unless there are extenuating circumstances)
• At all of the above: A "just cause" standard has been applied for all discipline and dismissal, requiring the employer to provide substantial evidence to justify the action.
Is SEIU the only union that represents adjunct faculty? No, there are many unions, and we could potentially choose to organize with AFL-CIO, the United Steelworkers, the Teamsters, the AFT, or anyone else. However, SEIU is successfully organizing adjuncts throughout the country and here in the Bay. By joining SEIU we join a nationwide network, but we also build support with Mills College and San Francisco Art Institute. Many of us already teach at these schools as well, or have friends and partners who do. Together, our coordinated efforts and communication with SEIU affiliates at other schools helps build better working conditions throughout the Bay Area academic community. If the admin is suggesting that we consider looking at AFT or any other union, we should be asking, "What is their motive in doing so?" Based on our accumulated experience as arts/design/humanities faculty in the Bay Area, when has the AFT or any other union approached us to ask about our working conditions in the past, and when have they offered to help?
The Election Process
Why will there be an election to determine whether lecturers and adjunct faculty at CCA want to be unionized by the SEIU? Since last February, SEIU organizers having been working with CCA faculty to collect enough signed postcards stating that we want to have a union election at CCA. These postcards were then filed with the NLRB. On July 15, 2014, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), a labor-management regulatory agency of the federal government, informed President Stephen Beal in a letter that the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 1021 had filed a petition asking for an election among our lecturers and adjunct faculty.
When is the election and how will it be administered? The election will be administered by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). The election is currently expected to be conducted by mail ballot only. The NLRB will mail the ballots to the homes of voting faculty sometime in mid-September, and faculty will have two weeks to complete their ballots and mail them back to the NLRB.
Who is eligible to vote? The “voting unit” (eligible voters) will be as follows:
All regular* unranked faculty employed in the classifications of lecturer, senior lecturer, adjunct professor, and senior adjunct professor in academic-degree granting programs.
* Regular means all unranked faculty in the specified classifications noted above who have, or will have, taught a course in a degree-granting program in Spring 2014, Summer Term 2014, or Fall 2014, unless there is no longer a reasonable expectation by CCA and the employee of continued employment with CCA.
Who is NOT eligible to vote? We feel that the CCA administration's response to this question masquerades as an objective statement, but actually seeks to portray the union effort as somehow exclusive (hint: look for the bold faced "excludes" on their site). Common sense would tell you that if you don't fall into one of the aforementioned categories (lecturer, senior lecturer, adjunct, or senior adjunct), then you are not eligible to vote. Hopefully, if you are teaching at the college level you can figure this one out on your own! And, anyone who has spent any amount of time at CCA knows that not all members of the CCA community face the same professional challenges or have the same degree of power to affect change. Fortunately, our national labor laws take these sorts of things into account, and this is why the National Labor Relations Board has determined that only adjunct faculty are eligible to vote. In short, this is precisely what self-determination looks like: an adjunct faculty union would be comprised of adjunct faculty to address the working conditions of the adjunct faculty.
Should those who can't vote still support our effort to unionize? Yes! We believe that everyone should share in fair working conditions, equitable pay, reasonable access to benefits, and a college where our community members are treated as equals. The CCA community as a whole deserves to be treated fairly, and the current treatment of adjuncts places an additional burden on tenured faculty, staff, students, and many department administrators. When the adjunct faculty vote to join the union, this does not prevent other CCA faculty, staff, and students from unionizing, as well. On the contrary, it raises the standard and expectation of fair treatment across all aspects of college life. This election won't rock the boat or sink the ship. When the tide comes in, we want to see the whole boat rise with everyone on it. An open, collegial atmosphere of mutual respect for all employees at CCA not only secures the best working environment for all of us, but produces the best learning environment for our students.
Do a majority of all eligible voters need to vote “yes” in order to elect SEIU to represent “adjunct” faculty? No. The election will be determined by a majority of those who actually vote, not by a majority of the eligible voters. Therefore, it is critical that all eligible voters do vote, so that the election outcome reflects the views of all faculty members who would be directly affected by it.
If the eligible faculty members vote in favor of SEIU representation, how long will it last? If SEIU Local 1021 is certified to represent CCA faculty, we would remain a part of the union for as long as we see fit. If, at some point, we wanted to break up with SEIU, court a new union, or go solo, there is another legal process much like this one for making our desires known by voting in an election. Again, when we unionize, we are the union and we choose what direction we want to go in. Being a part of a union means being a part of a democratic, participatory process that changes and adapts through collective bargaining.
If an eligible faculty member doesn’t vote for the union, or abstains from voting, and union representation is voted in, must he or she become covered by the union? Note: CCA admin elected to include this question twice in their FAQ. This is a very common talking point in anti-union campaigns across the country, and has led to so-called "right to work" anti-union laws in several states. You can Google it yourself, but here's a helpful link to an article. If faculty vote in favor of representation by SEIU—as determined by a majority of those who vote, not a majority of eligible faculty—then all those in the “bargaining unit” (eligible faculty as determined by the NLRB) would be represented by SEIU for purposes of collective bargaining. Faculty in those classifications as determined by the NLRB would be required to be covered by the union and pay union dues. As stated above, these dues (1.74% of base teaching pay) are paid only after we have successfully bargained our first contract and voted together to approve it. Then, all of the eligible faculty would receive the benefits of that agreement and the resources of the union, regardless of how they voted in the upcoming election.
The College’s Position
What is the college’s position on this issue? Mills College and SFAI faculty just voted to unionize this spring. In both cases the school admin took steps to discourage the formation of the union by launching misinformation campaigns, making veiled threats, hiring lawyers with established anti-union expertise, and firing faculty who led the effort at Mills (SEIU has since filed "unfair labor practice" complaints with the NLRB, and faculty have been given their classes back). Fortunately, the CCA administration has not done anything that appears overtly adversarial, but there are a few indications (the focus of their FAQ, for one) that they are opposed to the formation of a union and are hoping to delay or stall the effort. This is why we are asking that they remain neutral. Neutral means exactly that: no special meetings, no divisive tactics, no shaded statements. Y'know, NEUTRAL. (Please sign this petition that was written by CCA faculty!).
Ultimately, this should not be an "us" vs. "them" issue. Forming a union is NOT about punishing the administration for past or current grievances. It's about establishing a formally-recognized legal structure where faculty can negotiate the terms of their employment without fear of reprisal and in accordance with national labor laws. A union provides collective bargaining rights whereby the admin and faculty would be legally required to sit down as equals and negotiate contracts that both parties consent to. A union won't bankrupt the school, disturb the student learning environment, disenfranchise tenured faculty, or otherwise divide the CCA community. But it can make our school's financial and policy decisions more transparent, which would presumably lead to "an open and deliberative process, one that promotes an informed electorate and underscores the principles of academic freedom".
Additional FAQ's
What about falling enrollment and financial cuts? Can unionization negatively impact the health of fill in the blank (the school, my department, my career, my cat, etc)? Is now really the right time? Yes! The time is now! Falling enrollment and a growing crises in the perceived value of college-level degrees are nationwide issues, related to the spiraling of student debt and the ballooning salaries of a few top administrators. These problems are not going away any time soon. Forming an adjunct union doesn't threaten the health of the school or add to the existing crises. Forming a union means we participate in a legal process to negotiate our contracts with the administration. We don't gain some new superpower to bend the administration to our every whim. But, ironically, this is essentially the power that the administration currently holds over us. If someone blames a faculty union for the financial problems of the school, they're either making a straw man argument or they haven't done their homework to understand how a union functions. Or worse, they're suggesting that the health of the school is dependent upon your silent acquiescence to the precarious terms of your undervalued employment - as they see fit.
Will forming an adjunct union be divisive or erode collegiality between contingent faculty and ranked/tenured faculty? There may be some people who would very much like to pit tenured faculty against contingent faculty, but there is absolutely no rational justification for this argument. An adjunct union cannot negotiate changes to the contracts of tenured or ranked faculty, or any other staff outside of the union. Ranked and Tenured faculty are already overburdened with service obligations, program responsibilities, department management, and other administrative tasks. At present, many departments struggle each semester to round up enough faculty volunteers to effectively fill all of the committees, reviews, and student/teacher commitments. Although adjuncts (nearly 75% of the CCA faculty) are not contractually-obligated to participate in these activities, they are often pressured into doing so for little or no compensation. Conditions such as these are already eroding collegiality at CCA. Forming an adjunct union will help ensure greater parity across all faculty and can help build a more integrated faculty body. As a result, Ranked and Tenured faculty might very well find that their workload outside of the classroom is lighter. Collegiality grows from building fair and respectful relationships, not from maintaining problematic workplace policies.
Why did SEIU wait outside my classroom, call me on my phone, and/or come knocking on my door? A few people have said that they were turned off by SEIU's organizing efforts. On the one hand, we get it; it's annoying to be contacted by strangers who want to talk about something as personal as your job. On the other hand, this is exactly how Cesar Chavez organized the United Farm Workers union. It's at the very core of community organizing to do person-to-person outreach, and it can be a very effective way to build community support. Although it can sometimes feel intrusive or even creepy when an unknown labor organizer knocks on your door, we invite you to remember the not-so-distant past when all of our interpersonal relations weren't conducted through texts, emails, and social media. So, the next time you find yourself posting on Facebook about the alienation inherent in a myopic, over-technologized urban milieu, please take a moment to smile and remember the time an idealistic union organizer awkwardly tried to help you win your collective bargaining rights.
Where would the money come from to pay for these improvements to Adjunct contracts? Can CCA really afford this? We all care about the economic health of our school. However, this is a legitimate question asked in a misleading way. It's often paired with the false assertion that paying adjuncts a living wage will necessarily mean a decline in program funding, financial aid, or other faculty/staff/student resources. Here are the facts:
- CCA increased its net assets by over $7 million in the last fiscal year, and increased its total revenue by $400,000 to $84.1 million.
- In the all-faculty meeting, Melanie Corn reported that enrollment was looking "great".
- And, there appears to be enough money coming in for Steve Beal to feel justified receiving an $85,000 BONUS (in addition to a $413,000 salary and a $43,000 raise). His bonus alone is more than the combined annual salaries of 4 Lecturers. Can CCA really afford this, when faculty are not even being paid a living wage?
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