Michigan State Nontenure-Track Faculty Go Union 240-113

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.aftface.org/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=534

AFT Michigan has added another notch to its belt, as nontenure-track faculty at Michigan State University voted by a two-to-one margin for representation. The new union, the Union of Nontenure-Track Faculty (UNTF), will represent 650 part-time and full-time nontenure-track faculty on MSU's East Lansing campus. The mail-in ballot election was overseen by the Michigan Employment Relations Commission and the votes were counted May 29. The final tally was 240-113.

Job security, health insurance and wages are the top concerns of the UNTF members, who work on year-to-year contracts. "Although I have been treated well in my department," says sociologist Ralph Pyle who has been teaching at MSU for 12 years, "I feel that I would have more piece of mind if I knew that my job was secure."

"What matters to me most is having a voice," says Naoko Wake, a visiting assistant professor in MSU's Lyman Briggs college. "Now we will be real citizens of the university community."

The victory is part of a national trend of nontenure-track organizing. In Michigan, faculty have been on an exceptional roll, with AFT Michigan-affiliated unions recently organized at the University of Michigan, Wayne State University and Henry Ford Community College. Next month, the union hopes to pick up more when part-time faculty at Western Michigan University will also be voting for union representation.

[tj2001]

1. Most college teaching is done by adjuncts nowadays

It's about time they get something for doing the REAL work of a university: TEACHING.

Unfortunately, most are treated like they don't exist by regular faculty (even though their credentials are just as good) and get fewer benefits (and possibly lower wages on an hourly basis) than the janitors who clean the classrooms.