Author Archives: E Wayne Ross

Faculty Take Strike Vote at University of Northern British Columbia

Posted on January 28, 2015 | Comments Off on Faculty Take Strike Vote at University of Northern British Columbia

From The Tyee:

Faculty Take Strike Vote at University of Northern British Columbia
Salaries a sticking point in pricey northern city.
By Katie Hyslop

The University of Northern British Columbia’s faculty association made history Jan. 15 when it became the first faculty union at a B.C. research university to take a strike vote. The vote passed with 84.8 per cent in favour of a strike, giving faculty members 90 days to take strike action.

The university, located in Prince George, has been bargaining with the faculty association for eight months, the last three with help from British Columbia Labour Board-appointed mediator Trevor Sones.

About 70 per cent of bargaining issues at UNBC have been settled, but faculty association president Jacqueline Holler says a major impasse is faculty salaries, which are as much as 24 per cent lower than salaries at similar-sized Canadian universities.

“What the employer has offered in terms of compensation does absolutely nothing to address the situation,” said Holler. Neither she nor UNBC would disclose specifics of offers on the bargaining table.

Holler said another reason faculty deserves higher pay is the university’s frequent ranking by Maclean’s magazine as one of the top three primarily undergraduate universities in Canada.

But UNBC says there are a number of factors affecting salary negotiations: Government requirements for wages to stay within fixed financial parametres; an overall decline in enrollment; an increase in the number of B.C. universities; and increased government support for trades training.

“I’m not citing those [factors] as the most important, only to suggest that there’s a number of factors that are all at play,” said Rob van Adrichem, UNBC’s vice president of external communications. “And it all affects this situation.”

Unionized last April

The vote comes after UNBC’s faculty association, representing close to 500 full and part-time instructors, became a union last April. The faculty associations at Simon Fraser University and University of Victoria unionized around the same time.

There are six research universities in British Columbia. They include UNBC, Simon Fraser University, University of Victoria, Thompson Rivers University, Royal Roads University, and the University of British Columbia.

The faculty association at the University of British Columbia became the first B.C. research university to unionize in the 1980s. In exchange for the university’s support the union gave up their right to strike. Almost 20 years later Royal Roads University’s faculty association officially became a union. Faculty at Thompson Rivers University is also unionized.

With the exception of Alberta, where law prevents university faculty associations from becoming unions, there are only four non-unionized public university faculty associations in Canada. They are at McGill, Waterloo, University of Toronto, and McMaster.

Salary disputes were the common denominator between Simon Fraser, University of Victoria, and UNBC faculty associations’ decision to unionize, says Michael Conlon, executive director of the Confederation of University Faculty Associations of British Columbia, an umbrella organization for research university faculty associations.

“I think it’s fair to say that salary increases at all the research universities in B.C. have not kept up” with the rest of Canada, Conlon said.

Attracting highly educated academics is a good reason to increase salaries, says Conlon, adding competition for “internationally renowned-faculty” is stiff both nationally and internationally.

“As B.C.’s pay scale falls farther and farther behind, I think it will be a challenge to recruit and retain the best researchers, the best teachers, and the best faculty,” he said. “I think that’s a challenge for the entire province in ensuring we’ve got a competitive and excellent system of post-secondary education.”

The faculty’s previous contract expired last June, four months after arbitrator Vince Ready released a final decision on a 2012-2014 contract, which included two retroactive pay raises of 2.5 per cent.

Ready agreed with the faculty association that salaries were low compared to other similar-sized universities, and said UNBC did have the money to raise the pay of faculty members.

Bargaining continues this weekend

But while the wage increase helped, Holler says it didn’t fix UNBC’s “broken” salary structure and was negated by similar wage increases at other B.C. universities.

Holler said living in the north is more expensive than southern B.C., a factor not taken into account when deciding faculty wages.

“In most fields if you work in the north you actually get paid a little more because they understand that it’s hard to attract people,” she said.

The faculty association still hopes to reach an agreement through bargaining, and has yet to meet to discuss strike options. UNBC undergraduate classes end April 17, two days after the strike deadline.

UNBC’s van Adrichem says the strike vote itself doesn’t have an impact on the bargaining process. “The university has been and is very keen to negotiate an agreement,” he said.

Both sides are scheduled to return to the bargaining table on Jan. 30 until Feb. 1. [Tyee]

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Posted in Budgets & Funding, Salary/Economic Benefits, Strikes, Strikes & Labor Disputes, Unions, Working conditions

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Call for Submissions: Teaching Poor: Voices of the Academic Precariat

Posted on October 21, 2014 | Comments Off on Call for Submissions: Teaching Poor: Voices of the Academic Precariat

Via the CoCal distribution list:

*Call for Submissions*: *Teaching Poor: Voices of the Academic Precariat*

The career of college professor, giving back to the society that provided for them through education, was once a respectable path to the middle class. That class position is now slipping through the hands of the very people who helped create it, thanks to the erosion of tenured and tenure-track positions in favor of short-term contract positions without security. What should be rags to riches stories about the power of education to lift people out of poverty by providing a pathway to better jobs have become, for many academics, stories of stagnation, downward mobility, and outright impoverishment under the burden of massive debt uncompensated for by the very academy that helped contract faculty incur it.

*Teaching Poor: Voices of the Academic Precariat* will be a collection of voices from the world of so-called adjunct or contract college instructors who now teach 60-75% of all college courses in the United States and are paid wages equivalent to Walmart workers. In the tradition of Studs Terkel’s *Working*, *Teaching Poor* will honor both the difficulties and the triumphs of this new class of impoverished white collar laborers in the academic trenches, detailing personal struggles with the resultant poverty produced by low wages, crushing student loan debt, lack of healthcare and retirement provisions, and the professional and cultural costs this system levies on individuals and the students they teach.

I welcome creative non-fiction, biographical essay, short stories, poems, comics and, in the spirit of hacking the academy through digital humanities, may eventually expand to multimedia and a permanent archive of work similar to Story Corps. Length can vary wildly, but around 7500 words for prose is the average we’re looking for. Longer pieces will probably be reserved for the online archive.

This project is in its very early stages and I’m looking to see what kind of interest there is both in contributors and publishers before defining it or looking into other funding/publishing sources. I have publishers in mind (AK, Haymarket, Soft Skull, Atropos, Verso, ILR), but also welcome suggestions. I do want this to be more than a self-published ebook though, and perhaps something truly groundbreaking if we can make a collaboration work. Send your queries and submissions to Lee Kottner at teachingpoor@gmail.com by Jan. 1, 2015. That, too, is a very soft deadline, but please at least query by then.

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Posted in Adjuncts & Sessionals, CFPs, Corporate University, Publications

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BC Teachers Strike Debate on Global BC Morning News Show

Posted on June 4, 2014 | 1 comment

This morning on the Global BC Morning News Show, Sophie Lui and Steve Darling interviewed a variety of people on key issues related to education in British Columbia, in the context of the current labour dispute between the teachers and the BC government.

Segment 1
Topic: Cost of education to both parents and teachers (for example, money spent on supplies, possibility of corporate sponsorships as possible solution to alleviate the funding problem?)
Guest 1: Lisa Cable (Parents for B.C. Founder)
Guest 2: Harman Pandher (Burnaby School Board Trustee, Surrey teacher & parent)

Segment 2
Peter Fassbender, BC Minister of Education

Segment 3
Jim Iker, President of British Columbia Teachers Federation

Segment 4
Topic: Class size & composition
Guest 1: E. Wayne Ross (UBC Professor, Faculty of Education)
Guest 2: Nick Milum (Vancouver School Board Student Trustee)

Segment 5
Topic: Future of education, fixing the system & avoiding future strikes?)
Guest 1: Charles Ungerleider (UBC Professor Emeritus, Faculty of Education)
Guest 2: Dan Laitsch (SFU Associate Professor, Faculty of Education)

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Posted in BC Education, K-12 issues, Research

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Class size affects more than education

Posted on June 3, 2014 | Comments Off on Class size affects more than education

Class size and composition are key issues in the current labour dispute between the British Columbia Teachers Federation and the BC government.

In 2002, the ruling BC Liberals unilaterally stripped away provisions in the teachers’ contract that governed the makeup and number of students in each class. The teachers sued the government over their actions, twice. And the teachers won both times. The government is currently appealing their loss and refuses to follow the courts order that class size and composition conditions be restored.

The teachers and the government’s negotiators have been at the table for many months, with little or no progress. Last week the BCTF started rotating, district by district one-day strikes around the province. The government responded by cutting teachers pay by 10% and, in a bizarre and confusing move, locking teachers out for 45 minutes before and after school and during lunch and recess.

Amongst other things, the BC Minister of Education, Peter Fassbender, has been misrepresenting the implications of research on class size. See my previous blog about that, which led to an interview with CBC Radio’s Daybreak North program that was broadcast this morning. You can listen to 5 minute interview here and here:

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U. of Oregon’s New Academic-Freedom Policy Protects Students and Staff

Posted on May 29, 2014 | Comments Off on U. of Oregon’s New Academic-Freedom Policy Protects Students and Staff

U. of Oregon’s New Academic-Freedom Policy Protects Students and Staff
The Chronicle of Higher Education
May 29, 2014

By Peter Schmidt

The University of Oregon has adopted an academic-freedom policy that provides broad protections not just to faculty members, but to all of its employees, and also its students.

Michael R. Gottfredson, the university’s president, signed the measure on Wednesday, following its unanimous passage last month by the faculty senate.

The policy has been heralded as among the nation’s strongest by the institution’s fledgling faculty union, United Academics of the University of Oregon, which is affiliated with both the American Association of University Professors and the American Federation of Teachers.

The policy applies broadly to “members of the university community,” including those employed as administrators and staff members. It covers speech connected to research, teaching, public service, and shared governance, offering university employees explicit assurances that they cannot be fired for speech related to campus policies.

“Members of the university community have freedom to address, question, or criticize any matter of institutional policy or practice, whether acting as individuals or as members of an agency of institutional governance,” the policy says.

It adds: “The academic freedoms enumerated in this policy shall be exercised without fear of institutional reprisal. Only serious abuses of this policy—ones that rise to the level of professional misbehavior or professional incompetence—should lead to adverse consequences.”

In remarks delivered to the faculty senate on Wednesday, President Gottfredson said he had favored such provisions to ensure that academic freedom there could not be narrowed by the federal courts in the wake of a 2006 U.S. Supreme Court decision denying First Amendment protections to the speech of most or all public employees.

That ruling, in Garcetti v. Ceballos, held that public agencies may discipline their employees for statements made in connection with their jobs, but put off the question of whether it applied to “speech related to scholarship or teaching.” Lower federal courts have split over whether faculty members at public colleges are covered by Garcetti or have broader speech protections than those afforded other public employees.

Several other public higher-education institutions, including the Universities of California, Michigan, and Washington, have adopted policies enshrining the academic freedom of faculty members in response to Garcetti, but have not sought to similarly protect the speech of other employees or students.

The University of Oregon’s policy is the product of some heated debate between the faculty and the administration, which last year initially resisted United Academics’ calls for contract language protecting the right of faculty members to criticize the university’s policies and actions. United Academics eventually persuaded the administration to drop that demand and others, such as a call for contract language requiring civility in workplace interactions, that union leaders saw as threatening academic freedom.

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Dark Days for Our Universities

Posted on May 20, 2014 | Comments Off on Dark Days for Our Universities

[Recent events at Capilano University and University of Saskatchewan have raised serious concerns about the health of the academic culture of post-secondary institutions in Canada. Crawford Kilian, who taught at Capilano College from its founding in 1968 until it became a university in 2008, wrote the following analysis of Canadian academic culture for The Tyee, where he is a contributing editor. The Institute for Critical Education Studies at UBC is pleased to reprint the article here, with the author’s permission.]

Dark Days for Our Universities
Dr. Buckingham’s censure only confirms the long, tragic decline of Canadian academic culture
Crawford Kilian
(Originally published in TheTyee.ca, May 19, 2014)

On May 13 I attended a meeting of the Board of Governors of Capilano University, which has had a very bad year.

Last spring the board agreed to cut several programs altogether. This caused considerable anger and bitterness, especially since the recommendations for the cuts had been made by a handful of administrators without consulting the university senate.

Recently, the B.C. Supreme Court ruled that the board’s failure to consult with the senate was a breach of the University Act. This upset the board members, who may yet appeal the decision.

Adding to the angst was the disappearance of a satirical sculpture of Cap’s president, Kris Bulcroft, which had been created and displayed on campus by George Rammell, an instructor in the now-dead studio arts program. Thanks to media coverage, the sculpture has now been seen across the country, and by far more people.

Board Chair Jane Shackell (who was my student back in 1979) stated at the meeting that she had personally ordered the removal of the sculpture because it was a form of harassment of a university employee, the president. Rather than follow the university’s policy on harassment complaints (and Bulcroft had apparently not complained), Shackell seemed to see herself as a one-person HR committee concerned with the president alone.

At the end of the meeting another retired instructor made an angry protest about the board’s actions. Like the judge in a Hollywood court drama, my former student tried to gavel him down.

I didn’t feel angry at her; I felt pity. It was painfully clear that she and her board and administration are running on fumes.

The mounting crisis

I look at this incident not as a unique outrage, but as just another example of the intellectual and moral crisis gripping Canadian post-secondary education. The old scientific principle of mediocrity applies here: very few things are unique. If it’s happening in North Vancouver, it’s probably happening everywhere.

And it certainly seems to be. On the strength of one short video clip, Tom Flanagan last year became an unperson to the University of Calgary, where he’d taught honourably for decades. He was already scheduled to retire, but the president issued a news release that made it look as if he was getting the bum’s rush.

More recently, Dr. Robert Buckingham publicly criticized a restructuring plan at the University of Saskatchewan, where he was dean of the School of Public Health.

In a 30-second interview with the university provost, he was fired and escorted off campus.

A day later the university president admitted firing him had been a “blunder” and offered to reinstate him as a tenured professor, but not as a dean. It remains to be seen whether he’ll accept.

The problem runs deeper than the occasional noisy prof or thin-skinned administrator. It’s systemic, developed over decades. As the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives noted last November, the University of Manitoba faculty very nearly went on strike until the president’s office agreed to a collective agreement ensuring professors’ right to speak freely, even if it meant criticizing the university.

Universities ‘open for business’

At about the same time, the Canadian Association of University Teachers published a report, Open for Business. CAUT warned about corporate and government deals with universities that would ditch basic research for more immediately convenient purposes.

“Unfortunately,” the report said, “attempts by industry and government to direct scholarly inquiry and teaching have multiplied in the past two decades…. For industry, there is a diminished willingness to undertake fundamental research at its own expense and in its own labs — preferring to tap the talent within the university at a fraction of the cost.

“For politicians, there is a desire to please industry, an often inadequate understanding of how knowledge is advanced, and a short time horizon (the next election). The result is a propensity to direct universities ‘to get on with’ producing the knowledge that benefits industry and therefore, ostensibly, the economy.”

This is not a sudden development. The expansion of North America’s post-secondary system began soon after the Second World War and really got going after Sputnik, when the Soviets seemed to be producing more and better graduates than the West was. That expansion helped to fuel decades of economic growth (and helped put the Soviets in history’s ashcan).

Throughout that period, academic freedom was in constant peril. In the Cold War, U. S. professors were expected to sign loyalty oaths. In 1969-70 Simon Fraser University went through a political upheaval in which eight faculty members were dismissed and SFU’s first president resigned.

A Faustian bargain

What is different now is that Canadian post-secondary must depend more and more on less and less government support. Postwar expansion has become a Faustian bargain for administrators: to create and maintain their bureaucracies and programs, post-secondary schools must do as they’re paid to do. If public money dwindles, it must be found in higher student fees, in corporate funding, in recruiting foreign kids desperate for a Canadian degree.

So it’s no surprise that Dr. Buckingham was sacked for criticizing a budget-cutting plan to rescue an ailing School of Medicine by putting it into Buckingham’s thriving School of Public Health.

And it’s no surprise that Capilano University had shortfalls right from its announcement in 2008. It had to become a university to attract more foreign students than it could as a mere college, but at the last minute the Gordon Campbell Liberals reneged on their promise to give it university-level funding.

For six years, then, Cap’s board and administration have known they were running on fumes. They are in the same predicament as B.C. school boards, who must do the government’s dirty work and take the blame for program and teacher cuts.

In 40 years of teaching at Cap, I rarely attended board meetings, and never did a board member visit my classes. I don’t know the members of this current board, apart from a couple of faculty representatives, but I’ve served as a North Vancouver school trustee. As an education journalist I’ve talked to a lot of university and college administrators, not to mention school trustees. I know how they think.

Managing the decline

For any school or university board, underfunding creates a terrible predicament: protest too loudly and you’ll be replaced by a provincial hireling who’ll cut without regard for the school’s long-term survival. If you have any love for the institution, you can only try to do damage control. But when your teachers or professors protest, as they have every right to, that annoys and embarrasses the government. It will punish you for not imposing the “silence of the deans” on them.

University presidents and senior administrators make six-figure salaries and enjoy high prestige. They are supposed to be both scholars and managers. Their boards are supposed to be notable achievers as well, though their achievements have often been in the service of the governing party. Their education has served them well, and now they can serve education.

But a Darwinian selection process has made them servants of politics instead, detached from the true principles of education. When they realize that their job is not to serve education but to make the government look good, they panic. Everything they learned in school about critical thinking and reasoned argument vanishes.

In reward for previous achievements and political support, the B.C. government appointed Cap’s board members to run the school without giving them the money to run it well, or even adequately. And whatever their previous achievements, they have lacked the imagination and creativity — the education — to do anything but make matters worse. Faced with an angry faculty and a humiliating court judgment, they have drawn ridicule upon themselves and the university.

They can’t extricate themselves and they have no arguments left to offer — only the frantic banging of a gavel that can’t drown out the voice of an angry retired prof exercising his right to speak freely. [Tyee]

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Convicted felon and former U Louisville ed school dean Robert Felner to be released from federal prison today

Posted on May 12, 2014 | Comments Off on Convicted felon and former U Louisville ed school dean Robert Felner to be released from federal prison today

Robert Felner, former dean of the College of Education and Human Development at the University of Louisville and convicted felon, is schedule to be release from federal prison today.

Felner was sentenced to 63 months in prison for his role in defrauding the U of L and the University of Rhode Island of $2.3 million of US Department of Education funds earmarked for No Child Left Behind Act research.

The U of L reported suspected fraud to federal officials and, in June 2008, on Felner’s last day of work at U of L, federal officers conducted simultaneous raids on the U of L College of Education and Human Development and the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, where Felner had accepted the presidency and was in the process of moving. The investigation involved the US Secret Service, US Postal Inspection Service and the Internal Revenue Service.

In January 2010, Felner pleaded guilty to nine Federal charges, including income tax evasion.

For a refresher course on the felonious Felner see PageOneKentucky.com’ summary of events. For a full course of Felner on PageOneKentucky click here. (Shout out to Jake at PageOneKentucky for excellent investigative reporting on Felner and the U of L.)

For Workplace Blog coverage of Felner click here.

Here is a Louisville Courier-Journal profile of Felner: Robert Felner profile: Arrogant, outrageous, abusive and duplicitous.

A couple of footnotes to the Felner Story:

(1) Los Angeles school superintendent, John Deasy, has had his academic credentials called into question. Deasy was given a PhD by the University of Louisville after he was enrolled for four months and received a total of nine credits. Deasy’s doctoral advisor was Robert Felner. Deasy had previously awarded $375,000 in consulting contracts to Felner, while Deasy was Superintendent of Santa Monica schools.

(2) U of L has been making double retirement payouts to administrators for their silence.

Records show that the school paid a full year’s salary to outgoing vice presidents Michael Curtin ($252,350) and Larry Owsley ($248,255) and to assistant to the president Vivian Hibbs ($66,391) to induce them not to “disparage, demean or impugn the university or its senior leadership.”

And last month U of L made a $346,000.00 settlement with Angela Kosawha:

The University of Louisville is paying another large settlement in connection with the retirement of a high-ranking official — this time, $346,844 to its top lawyer. University counsel Angela Koshewa is on a three-month leave of absence before she officially retires June 1. Documents obtained under the Kentucky Open Records Act show the university is paying Koshewa — who has questioned some expenditures and proposals backed by President James Ramsey and Dr. David Dunn, the executive vice president for Health Affairs — twice her final salary.

Current U of L President James Ramsey and Provost Shirley Willihnganz are the same campus officials who hired Robert Felner, and defended him when he was initially charged with defrauding the university.

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Workplace: A Journal for Academic Labor archive project completed

Posted on January 15, 2014 | Comments Off on Workplace: A Journal for Academic Labor archive project completed

Workplace: A Journal for Academic Labor founding editors—Kent Puckett and Marc Bousquet—published the first issue of the journal in the fall of 1998. Closely connected to activism emerging from the Graduate Student Caucus of the Modern Language Association, the journal’s mission was defined by Bousquet in his Foreword to the first issue, “The Institution as False Horizon”:

Workplace is a … journal that asks you to join with Graduate Student Caucus as the agent of a new dignity in academic work. This means that most of its contributors will try to convince you that becoming a Workplace activist is in your immediate and personal best interest, even by the narrowest construction of careerism.

Let me be clear about this. If you’re a graduate student, I’m saying that becoming an activist today will help you get a job in your interview tomorrow.

If you’re an undergraduate, or parent, or employer, I’m saying that a dignified academic WORKPLACE delivers better education.

By “dignified” I mean very simple things.

I mean a higher-education WORKPLACE in which first-year students—those most at risk for dropping out and those requiring the best-trained and most-expert attention—can expect as a matter of course that they have registered for classes taught by persons with experience, training, and the terminal degree in their field (usually a Ph.D.), an office for conferences, a salary that makes such meetings possible, a workload that enables continuing scholarship, a telephone and answering machine, reasonable access to photocopying, and financial support for professional activities.

Remove any one of these values, and education suffers. Who would ask their accountant to work without an office? Or a telephone? Or training and professional development?

Most of the teachers encountered by students in first-year classes have none of these things. No office. No pay for meetings outside of class. No degree. Little or no training. No experience to speak of.

Little wonder that nobody’s happy with the results.

The good news is that there’s plenty of work in higher education teaching for those who want to do it. The bad news is that all of that work no longer comes in the package of tenure, dignity, scholarship, and a living wage that we call “a job.”

The struggle for dignity in the academic workplace continues and 17 years later Workplace remains a journal focused on critical analysis of and activism within universities, colleges, and schools.

Throughout it’s existence Workplace been an open-access journal. Initially housed on servers at the University of Louisville, the journal moved to the University of British Columbia and transitioned from an html-based journal to the Open Journal Systems (OJS) a journal management and publishing system  developed by the Public Knowledge Project. PKP is a multi-university initiative developing free open source software and conducting research to improve the quality and reach of scholarly publishing.

Workplace is now published by the Institute for Critical Education Studies at UBC and hosted, along with a number of other OJS journals, by the University of British Columbia Library.

The Workplace journal archive project, led by Stephen Petrina (co-director of the Institute for Critical Education Studies and Workplace co-editor), has been underway for several years and is now complete. Back issues #1-#12 are now reformatted and accessible through the journal Archives, bringing the journal up to date under a new unified numbering system and collecting the complete journal contents in one place for the first time since 2005.

This was a monumental task, facilitated by the impeccable editorial work of Graduate Assistants Maya Borhani and Michelle Gautreaux.

We encourage you to explore the very rich archives of the journal and to join us in promoting a new dignity in academic work. We welcome your submissions on issues of workplace activism and dialogue on all issues of academic labor.

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Protest violent police repression of striking Mexican teachers

Posted on September 16, 2013 | Comments Off on Protest violent police repression of striking Mexican teachers

LETTER FROM US section of the Trinational Coalition to Defend Public Education

Asking us to support Mexican teachers – send to Mexican officials

We stand in solidarity with the teachers of CNTE in Mexico who are calling upon the government for a genuine dialogue, that their demands be acknowledged and that violent repression not be used against the nationwide movement in defense of public education as it was today in Mexico City. The rights to assemble and express legitimate concerns are rights that are inalienable rights that are part of the civil and democratic freedoms for which humanity has fought and died for during the last two centuries. WHEREVER POSSIBLE, ORGANIZE DEMONSTRATIONS IN FRONT OF MEXICAN CONSULATES AND TAKE PHOTOS TO BE SENT TO THE SAME ADDRESSES AS THE COPIES OF PROTEST LETTERS. Even a photo of 5 people in front of a consulate is a tremendous morale booster for our brothers and sisters fighting against the destruction of teacher unions & public education!

Police end teachers protest in Mexico City
Police attack striking Mexico teachers

LETTERS TO THE GOVERNMENT CAN BE SENT TO:
LIC. ENRIQUE PEÑA NIETO
Presidente Constitucional de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos
enrique.penanieto@presidencia.gob.mx

LIC. OSORIO CHONG MIGUEL ANGEL
Secretario de Estado
secretario@segob.mx

LIC. CHUAYFFET CHEMOR EMILIO
Secretaria de Educación Pública
emilio.chuayffet@sep.gob.mxrasagas@live.com
Prof. Eligio Hernández de Oaxaca XXII: eligiogonzalez@hotmail.com

Below is a copy of the letter that the US section of the Trinational Coalition to Defend Public Education sent to the protesting teachers in Mexico. Use it as a template and send copies to:
seccionmexicana.coali@gmail.com
Maestra Graciela Rangel de Michoacán sección XVIII: rasagas@live.com
Prof. Eligio Hernández de Oaxaca XXII: eligiogonzalez@hotmail.com

MEXICO D.F., MEXICO September 13, 2013

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

The Trinational Coalition to Defend Public Education-USA extends our support for your valiant and militant struggle to defend not just your rights as teachers and trade unionists, but the Mexican people’s right to a public education that is guaranteed in your federal constitution. We applaud your courageous resistance against implementation of the present changes in the constitution which would use standardized tests for teachers to be hired and to keep their jobs, standardized tests for students that will limit their future opportunities in life as well as reducing federal funding to state and local schools. These changes will have the worst impact on the poorest states and communities, especially those whose population mainly speak languages other than Spanish.

We face similar attacks in the United States of America under the guise of “reform”. Your struggle for educational and union justice is an inspiration to us about how teachers and communities can unite to defend public education. You have clarified for the world that the forces behind these so-called reforms are powerful corporate interest that intend to privatize public education.

YOUR STRUGGLE IS OUR STRUGGLE!

In solidarity,

Rosemary Lee, for Trinational Coalition to Defend Public Education-section USA

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Posted in K-12 issues, Strikes & Labor Disputes, Unions, Violence

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Welcome back to the “respectful environment” of your academic workplace

Posted on September 4, 2013 | Comments Off on Welcome back to the “respectful environment” of your academic workplace

All characters and actions in the story linked below are purely fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, or activities experienced in any supposed “respectful environment” of an academic workplace is purely coincidental.

From McSweeney’s:

“Everyone Did Such a Great Job in the Leadership Workshop Today Except Spencer”

By Tim Sniffen

 

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COCAL Updates

Posted on April 24, 2013 | Comments Off on COCAL Updates

NOTE:  Many subscribers to COCAL UPDATES are also scholars who write for publication in academic journals, or know those who do. I am personally on the Editorial Board of Labor Studies Journal, the peer reviewed journal of the United Association for Labor Education, published by Sage. For you folks I have two requests:

1. If you write in a field related in any way to labor, please try to include citations to articles from LSJ if possible. This makes our ranking in the journal world go up and also increases the visibility of pro-labor academic writing generally. LSJ is fully indexed online back to 1998 at http://lsj.sagepub.com/content/by/year and previous indexing is printed in the back of hard copies annually. It is also indexed in a number of online and hard copy indexes. See <http://www.sagepub.com/journals/Journal201857/abstractIndexing>

2. Many of you also go to conferences, including labor related conferences, where you and others present papers on contingnet faculty and other related topics. Please consider submitting this writing to LSJ for publication. The guidelines for authors can be accessed at http://www.sagepub.com/journals/Journal201857/manuscriptSubmission. Articles have 2-3 blind reviewers prior to possible revision and/or publication both online and hard copy.

UPDATES IN BRIEF AND LINKS

1. Two of the best reactions to the Boston Marathon bombings I have seen

http://ouleft.sp-mesolite.tilted.net/?p=1338&utm_source=CCDSLinks+weekly+-+April+19%2C+2013&utm_campaign=CCDSLinks&utm_medium=email

2. More on the University of Indiana strike

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLDnXPm0LhM

3. Michigan teachers, profs and grads deal with right to work.

http://www.labornotes.org/2013/04/coping-michigans-right-work-law

4. SEIU urges ACA coverage for adjuncts

http://www.seiu.org/2013/04/seiu-urges-aca-coverage-for-part-time-workers-adju.php

5. Sign petition for lesbian teacher at Catholic high school who was fired after her sexual orientation became public and a parent complained.

https://www.change.org/petitions/diocese-of-columbus-reinstate-faculty-member-carla-hale?utm_source=action_alert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=22785&alert_id=iqGmsHKJqX_tkbypwkmBk

6. Our colleague, Chester Kulis, at Oakton CC and OAFA, IEA/NEA gives a good argument about why we should include all contingents, even one class adjuncts, in the bargaining unit and why they should want in too. See below

7. Our colleague Tim Sheard (of the Lenny Moss mystery series) is now publishing other worker-writers at his Hardball Press. He is looking for good manuscripts by worker writers. <hardballpress.com> or contact Tim directly at Tim Sheard <sheard2001@gmail.com>. This could be a great opportunity for some contingent faculty and/or some of our students.

8. Recent positive arbitration on employer changes in retiree health insurance. See below for details.

9. Petition on computer grading of high stakes essay tests

http://humanreaders.org/petition/

10. New journal of contingent labor, “Cognitariat”

http://oaworld.org/index.php/cognitariat

11. New UUP faculty bulletin from SUNY New Paltz chapter (Peter Brown, Chair) . Lots of contingent news.

12. Another piece on the metro organizing strategy

http://leftlaborreporter.wordpress.com/2013/04/19/metropolitan-organizing-strategy-seeks-to-build-union-power-for-adjunct-faculty/

13. U of IL, Chicago, shop steward for SEIU Local 73 suspended for doing his job

http://www.fightbacknews.org/2013/4/19/uic-local-73-steward-suspended-union-activity

14. Pieces by Marc Bousquet on NLRB and religious exemptions for colleges.

http://chronicle.com/blogs/brainstorm/beyond-yeshiva-nlrb-tackles-both-church-and-state/31246

and http://chronicle.com/blogs/conversation/2012/09/20/clergy-fellas-vs-the-steelworkers/

15. Job opening at National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW)   See below.

16. May 1 action at U of Akron (OH)

http://optfa.com/optfa-rally-for-equity-at-the-university-of-akron-on-may-1/

17. More on colleges cutting hours to avoid ACA mandates

http://chronicle.com/article/Colleges-Curb-Adjuncts-Hours/138653/

and http://www.kjzz.org/content/1304/maricopa-community-colleges-limit-hours-some-temporary-workers-and-adjunct-instructors

and results of IRS hearing where many organizations testified about proposed rules for counting adjuncts’ hours

http://chronicle.com/article/Adjuncts-Advocates-Call-for/138757/?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en

and http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/04/24/more-institutions-cap-adjuncts-hours-anticipation-federal-guidelines

and a great blogpost by Maria Maisto, NFM President

http://www.takepart.com/article/2013/04/23/colleges-cheating-adjunct-professors-health-insurance

18. Loyalty and adjuncts

http://chronicle.com/blogs/onhiring/loyal-but-in-which-direction/38001?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en

19. New book by our colleague Keith Hoeller out next January, 2014 (edited volume with chapters by many of our leading colleague-activists.)

http://www.vanderbiltuniversitypress.com/index.php/books/571/equality-for-contingent-faculty

20. Fast food and retail (nearly all contingent and pt) workers set to walk out in Chicago

http://portside.org/2013-04-23/fast-food-walkout-chicago

and a good blog about it from a Chicago labor educator

http://domesticpolitics.wordpress.com/2013/04/24/a-former-burger-king-worker-on-fast-food-workers-strikes-and-the-need-to-unionize-the-service-sector/

21. Worker Memorial Day (for workers killed on the job)

http://huckkonopackicartoons.com/making-a-killing-texas-style/

22. Paid sick leave needed for all workers

http://www.aflcio.org/Blog/Organizing-Bargaining/MomsRising-Blogger-Carnival-Paid-Sick-Leave-It-s-Business-Friendly-Too

 

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Third Annual Conference on Critical Education: Education Under Siege by Neoliberalism and Neoconservatism

Posted on March 29, 2013 | 1 comment

Third Annual Conference on Critical Education
Education Under Siege by Neoliberalism and Neoconservatism
May 15-17, 2013
Ankara,Turkey

Neoliberal and neoconservative educational politics have significantly been damaging education all over the World. Public education is regarded as old fashioned, private schools and a variety of types of education have been presented as an ideal model, schools and the students are now in a more competitive relationship, public education has been losing its status as a social right as a result of relationships with the market, and the state is rapidly losing its social character in the face of these developments. It leads us to rethink education given problems such as the education becoming less democratic, less secular and losing its scientific character; becoming more conservative and capital oriented and becoming less concerned with- in fact- detrimental to- issues of equality and critique. In rethinking education, the critical education movement takes an important role in creating new horizons and strategies against the global attack of the capital.

The International Conference on Critical Education, which was held in Athens for first meetings, provides a base for the academics, teachers and intellectuals who are interested in the subject to come together in order to overcome obstacles for public education. Therefore, in the age where education is under siege by neoliberalism and neoconservatism, we invite you to the IIIrd International Conference on Critical Education to reflect on the theory and practice of critical education and to contribute to the field.
Location: University of Ankara, Faculty of Educational Sciences & ATAUM (Ankara University European Research Center) located on University of Ankara Campus

Keynote Speakers:
Dave Hill, Anglia Ruskin University, Chelmsford, England
E. Wayne Ross, University of British Columbia, Canada
Fatma Gök, Bogaziçi University, Turkey
Fevziye Sayılan, University of Ankara, Turkey
George Grollios, University of Thessaloniki, Greece
Jerrold Kachur, University of Alberta,Canada
Kostas Skordoulis, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece
Panagiotis Sotiris, University of the Aegean, Greece
Peter Mayo, University of Malta, Malta
Peter McLaren, University of California Los Angeles, USA
Ravi Kumar, South Asian University, New Delhi, India
Rıfat Okçabol, Bogaziçi University, Turkey
Sandra Mathison, University of British Columbia, Canada

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Workplace: A Journal for Academic Labor republishes back issues #1-5 and #9

Posted on February 13, 2013 | Comments Off on Workplace: A Journal for Academic Labor republishes back issues #1-5 and #9

Workplace: A Journal for Academic Labor, back issues #1-5 and #9 are now reformatted and accessible through the Archives.

Thanks to the outstanding editorial work of ICES GRA Maya Borhani, we’ve been able to work forward and republish these back issues. The balance of back issues will be accessible in due time. We did our best to make this remediation work and apologize for any errors in the transfer. Please inform us if you pick up mistakes here or there. We also thank all of those who contribute/d as editors,reviewers, readers, and authors.

Some may prefer the more anarchic aesthetic of the original online format, wherein access remains at
http://louisville.edu/journal/workplace/issue5/back_issues.html and
http://louisville.edu/journal/workplace/workplace1/wokplace.html and
http://louisville.edu/journal/workplace/workplace2/wokplace2.html and
http://louisville.edu/journal/workplace/workplace2-1/wokplace2-1.html and here at UBC in the future.

Thank you for your interest in ICES, Critical Education, and Workplace.

Please keep the new manuscripts flowing in!

Sandra Mathison, Stephen Petrina & E. Wayne Ross, co-Directors
Institute for Critical Education Studies https://blogs.ubc.ca/ices/
University of British Columbia
____________________________

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Questioning the independence of UBC’s Equity office

Posted on January 28, 2013 | Comments Off on Questioning the independence of UBC’s Equity office

This open letter by UBC Professor Jennifer Chan, published today by the Ubyssey, appeals for changes to UBC’s consultations concerning its Equity Office. The Jennifer Chan v UBC and others [Beth Haverkamp, David Farrar, Jon Shapiro, Rob Tierney] racial discrimination case was heard by the BC Supreme Court on November 13, 2012. The case involves the David Lam Chair in Multicultural Education selection process in Fall 2009. See the Ubyssey’s feature article for background to the case.

Letter: Equity office revamp needs an independent perspective

The Ubyssey, January 28, 2013 — In December 2012, UBC called for a consultation to “seek input and advice from the UBC community on what organizational changes are needed to build inclusion into the structure of the university so inclusion at all levels and in all forms becomes the norm.”

One of the two co-chairs of the consultation, Ms. Nitya Iyer, who is a practicing lawyer and a former faculty in the UBC Faculty of Law, had been involved in at least two UBC equity complaint investigations. Former Associate Vice-President Equity, Tom Patch, who retired at the end of December 2012, had hired Ms. Iyer as an external investigator for these cases, both of which she dismissed.

Patch and Iyer were former colleagues at the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal. By all appearances, this posed conflict of interest for the investigations. Now, asking Ms. Iyer to co-chair a university-wide consultation on organizational structures that she has been involved in also raises issues of impartiality and vested interest.

She is asked, among other things, to review the UBC Equity Office for which she worked as an investigator. Further, former and/or current equity complainants may be unwilling to come forward in the consultation due to the fact that the person who headed and dismissed their investigation is now co-chairing that process.

Similarly, Dr. Gurdeep Prahar, who is the current acting head of the UBC Equity Office, was asked by Tom Patch to be a member of an investigative panel in at least one equity complaint proceeding.

For the consultation process to be credible and seen as independent and fair, a new co-chair who has never worked with/for UBC equity organizations is preferable. Otherwise, it risks being seen as compromised.

—Jennifer Chan
Associate Professor
Faculty of Education

Read More: The Ubyssey 

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COCAL Updates

Posted on January 21, 2013 | Comments Off on COCAL Updates

Another group of contingent and precarious workers, like us, takes successful collective action, Los Angeles port truckers. See below.

and http://grimtruthattollgroup.com/2013/01/09/truck-drivers-clinch-new-power-with-first-union-contract-at-l-a-ports/

2. Two articles on another huge group of contingent workers who are organizing worldwide – domestic workers
http://www.salon.com/2013/01/09/domestic_workers_worldwide_lack_legal_protections/?source=newsletter
and
http://www.dw.de/many-domestic-workers-without-labor-protection/a-16508972

3. Report on many adjunct activities at MLA convention
http://www.copy–paste.com/mla-2013-convention-and-the-year-of-the-adjunct/

4. More on hours cuts for adjuncts due to bosses attempts to avoid giving us health care under the health care act

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/08/irs-adjunct-faculty_n_2432924.html?utm_hp_ref=college
and
http://www.adjunctproject.com/unintended-consequences-of-the-affordable-care-act/

and http://www.mpnnow.com/topstories/x1781255788/FLCC-Health-care-law-impacts-adjunct-professors

and on MSNBC http://tv.msnbc.com/2013/01/14/colleges-roll-back-faculty-hours-in-response-to-obamacare/

5. Colorado CC adjuncts organizing group and events (now postponed until later in March or April) and also setting up crowd sourced data base on adjunct conditions in cc in CO. See below

6. More on U of Phoenix accredition review
http://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2013/01/10/university-phoenixs-accreditation-review

7. Bob Samuels, Pres. of U of CA, AFT Council, on a recent meeting of online tech ed providers. Very interesting
http://changinguniversities.blogspot.com/2013/01/a-failure-of-interaction-report-from.html

8. Interesting comment by Chicago adjunct activist on technology and online learning
See below

9. Bil Fletcher on his new book, “They’re Bankrupting Us and 20 other myths about unions”.
http://labortribune.com/whats-needed-to-prevent-right-wing-from-destroying-unions/?utm_source=CCDSLinks+weekly+-+Jan+11%2C+2013&utm_campaign=CCDSLinks&utm_medium=email

10. Courageous teachers in Seattle have refused to administer some standardized tests. Is there a lesson here for us?
http://www.labornotes.org/blogs/2013/01/when-teachers-refuse-tests

and http://dianeravitch.net/2013/01/12/ballard-high-school-teachers-say-no-in-solidarity-with-garfield-teachers/

11. Review of new book about organizing in Catholic hospitals and non-profits. Some lessons here for contingents in Catholic and private non-profit higher ed.
http://www.labornotes.org/blogs/2013/01/book-review-god-our-side

12. See latest issue of “Rethinking Schools” magazine, on “rethinking teacher unions”. K-12 focus, but lots relevant to us in it too.
http://www.rethinkingschools.org/opt-in/130111.shtml

13. Another college, Palm Beach State in FL, says it will cut adjuncts’ hours to avoid health insurance payments
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/10/palm-beach-state-college-health-insurance_n_2441927.html

14. New TESOL president-elect is ally of contingents, has been at COCAL conferences
See below.

15. New AFT “On Campus” magazine has two articles about us, p. 4 on grad employees victory at U of IL Champaign-Urbana and, p5, on the downsizing of adjunct loads to avoid paying health insurance
http://www.aft.org/emags/oc/oc_janfeb13/index.html#/2/

and an aft 60 minute webinar on implications of Affordable Care Act and adjuncts, including employer penalties and law’s definition of FT employee. Jan. 22 2 PM ET or Jan 23, 2 PM ET. register at http:/tinyurl.com/cv9hpn8

16. Good blog post from Canada on the recent poor quality coverage of higher ed and faculty in mainstream for-profit publications. This online publication, “University Affairs/Affaires Universitaires”, is a good Canadian parallel to CHE or IHE and might be worth checking out regularly for activists, even non-Canadian ones.

http://www.universityaffairs.ca/speculative-diction/more-higher-ed-media-madness/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+SpeculativeDiction+%28Speculative+Diction%29

17. AAUP seeking nomination for excellence in higher ed reporting award. See below.

18. Colorado CC Adjuncts organizing and seeking crowd sourced info on others in CO. See below for press release.

19. Very good protest at City College of SF where large number of faculty walked out on the Chancellor’s back-to-school speech and rallied for better budget priorities and a real fight against the rogue accreditors persecuting the college. Many media there, but no electronic coverage. Please call media and protest. See below for numbers. National too.

20. Oregon Labor Board say RA’s can unionize
http://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2013/01/14/oregon-labor-board-research-assistants-can-unionize

21. Need to do more for contingent writing faculty
http://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/college-ready-writing/starting-do-more-contingent-faculty

22. Check out the great billboard (scroll down as bit) on the current issue of Too Much (edited by the former NEA publications Director, Sam Pizzigatti)
http://www.toomuchonline.org/tmweekly.html

23. New petition for Mexican teacher fired for showing the movie “Milk” to middle schoolers.
http://www.change.org/petitions/lomas-hill-school-officials-publicly-apologize-to-cecilia-hernandez-for-unfair-dismissal-after-showing-milk?utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=url_share&utm_campaign=url_share_before_sign&alert_id=LNAXNeOJGw_vImpmMRLtI

24. REport of national meeting of Labor for Single Payer Health Care in chicago recently
http://www.laborforsinglepayer.org/
Updates in full
1. For Immediate Release: Wednesday January 9, 2013
Contact: Coral Itzcalli, 310-956-5712
TJ Michels, 415-213-2764

Truck Drivers Clinch New Power with First Union Contract at L.A. Ports; Collective Workplace Action Cited as Key to Winning 50% Hourly Raise, Retirement, and Real Health Care

Triumph over Global Employer Toll Group Fuels Hope for More U.S. Workers Organizing to End Low Wages, Poor Conditions in Retail, Food, and Supply Chain
LOS ANGELES –A set of truck drivers who haul shipments of imported merchandise from our shores to America’s brand name stores will kick start 2013 with a raise that doubles their hourly pay. The extra $6+ change is part of a first-ever contract that shifts a bulk of their health care costs to their employer, grants overtime, paid sick leave and holidays, offers guaranteed hours and other terms for job security – not to mention a pension plan. The collective bargaining gains in an otherwise union-free private sector rival 21st century agreements in long-organized markets.
“Justice…it’s sort of indescribable and overwhelming to finally have the American Dream at our reach,” said Jose Ortega Jr., a driver for global logistics giant Toll Group who served on his co-workers’ bargaining committee along with representatives from the International Brotherhood of Teamsters/Local 848 in Long Beach, Calif. The Australian corporation operates at port complexes on both U.S. coasts and handles accounts for Guess?, Polo, Under Armour, and other sportswear lines sold at big box and department retailers like Walmart and JC Penney.
The Toll drivers’ efforts mirror the collective action that has recently erupted in retail and fast food chains. The landmark agreement culminates more than 24 months of worker struggle and employer resistance in which these truckers – aided by a community coalition, their children, and clergy – borrowed bullhorns, leafleted consumers, gathered signatures, practiced their picket lines, staged noisyprotests, and crashed shareholder meetings in a dogged campaign to end the Third World working conditions they once endured.
U.S. port drivers are the most underpaid in the trucking industry: A typical professional earns $28,873 a year before taxes. Their net incomes often resemble that of part-time or seasonal workers though they clock an average of 59 hours a week. They possess specialized skills and licensing to safely command an 80,000 lb. container rig, but they fit the profile of America’s working poor. Food stamps, extended family, or church pantries are needed to get by; their children often lack regular pediatricians or only receive care at the public ER.
With American wages in freefall due to the imbalance of power enjoyed by multinational corporations, the scope and significance of such a labor accord with a transportation titan that operates in some 55 countries is a jaw dropper alone. What observers further find remarkable: The 65 workers who secured these middle-class benefits with their $8 billion employer are blue-collar Latino-Americans who hold jobs within a deregulated, virtually union-free industry at the ports.

“It upends the common wisdom that a workforce that lacks rights on the job cannot build the strength to take on the Goliaths of the global economy. But these drivers, like the workers at the warehouses and Walmart and Wendy’s, cannot raise families on such low wages, so they are coming together to rewrite the playbook,” noted Dr. John Logan, the director of Labor and Employment Studies at the College of Business at San Francisco State University. “The faces of this new movement are ordinary parents and churchgoers and community members who value the influence of a local priest as much as the expertise pouring in from strong trade unions overseas. Not only do they have the guts to strike – they have the faith they can win.”
Their collective resolve paid off. Mr. Ortega, a single father who works the night shift, will see his new per-hour rate of $19.75 reflected on his next paycheck, along with any overtime that will now be paid at a time-and-a-half rate of $28.
“As a truck driver, I wanted the assurance that things would be okay for my daughter if I was injured, that I could take her to see the doctor if she got sick,” the 36-year-old explained. “When we started organizing ourselves, we weren’t asking for anything out of this world. Dignity. A fair day’s pay for a hard day’s work. Decent, sanitary facilities to make a pit stop, rest, eat…you know, to perform our jobs safely.
“But we knew winning respect would take a fight at every turn. So if we were afraid to lose our jobs, we asked our allies for help. When it was time to take action, we prayed for courage to speak out. And we always stuck together, and never gave up.”
Elected leaders quickly praised the union contract as both a middle-class builder and noted its high-road business merits.
“We’re talking about the men and women who are the backbone of our regional and national economy, yet they have never shared in the prosperity of the corporations they make so profitable,” said Los Angeles Councilman Joe Buscaino, whose district includes the largest port in America. “The standards that Toll Group, its workers, and Teamsters Local 848 set make it possible to reward and attract responsible port businesses that want a level playing field to compete on innovation and quality, rather than who can pay Los Angeles’ vital workers the least.”

Contract Highlights include (Click here for a full summary & graphic comparison):
Fair wages –The day shift hourly rate increased from $12.72 to $19, and the night shift hourly rate from $13.22 to $19.75. In addition to the over $6/hour increase in hourly pay rates, drivers won $0.50/hour per year raises over the life of the contract, giving Toll port drivers over a 60% hourly wage boost over the life of the 3-year contract. Overtime pay of time-and-half kicks in after a typical full time 40 hour week, which is extremely rare in an industry where truckers are exempt from federal overtime laws and an average week hovers around 60 hours.
Secure retirement –Prior to the contract, less than a dozen Toll drivers could spare any extra dollars, even pre-tax, to participate in the corporate 401(k) plan. As Teamster Local 848 members, they have been automatically enrolled in the union’s Western Conference Pension Trust. Such a retirement plan at the port has rarely been seen since trucking was deregulated in 1980. Toll will make a pension contribution of $1/hour per driver until 2014, and a $1.50/hour per driver by 2015.

Affordable health care – The Toll Group health care plan was financially out of reach for most of its truck drivers. The few who managed to meet the premium, deductibles, and copayments will now keep significant more money in their pocket without sacrificing coverage, and the rest of their co-workers finally have access to quality, affordable health insurance coverage, including dental and vision care. The company will pay 95% of the premium for individuals and 90% for family coverage. Drivers who previously had to shell out $125/month for individual or $400/month per family will drop to roughly $30 or $150, respectively.
Stable work hours and paid time off – Most truck drivers lose a day’s pay if they cannot work, are penalized by dispatchers for being unable to haul a load, and lack paid sick or holiday leave, making it stressful for family budgets and planning. But Toll drivers made substantial gains in all these areas. They will receive seven paid holidays, three paid personal days, and six paid sick days annually. They will accrue one or two weeks of vacation within the first two years of service, with longtime employees earning up to a month. They can also bank on guaranteed full- or half-day of pay regardless of seasonal slowdowns if they are scheduled to work.
Competitive growth incentives to raise market and living standards – The agreement establishes a high-road business model that recognizes Toll’s competitors have not yet embraced fair wages and conditions. Provisions to encourage a level playing field and wide-scale unionization allow drivers to re-negotiate more gains when a simple majority of the regional market is organized.
“We commend these truck drivers for their leadership in challenging the status quo at the ports. Workers everywhere are standing up to say enough to poverty wages, and Toll drivers have demonstrated that working families will fight for middle-class paychecks in America,” said Teamsters General President James P. Hoffa.
“For too long companies in the global supply chain have gamed the system by undercutting U.S. businesses that actually create good jobs. Toll Group and its drivers have raised the bar for responsible competition, and the Teamsters will not stop until the rest of the nation’s port drivers have a shot at the American Dream.”
Additional Background
The landmark contract caps over two years of struggle for union recognition that workers took online, to the truck yard, and in the LA streets; they zig-zagged to other U.S. seaports to shore up support, and even continent-crossed to meet their Aussie union workmates who stood in solidarity at their joint employer’s doorstep.
In so doing, this group of Latino immigrants became an unlikely symbol of hope for their underpaid counterparts – union and not-yet-union, working in an adopted homeland as well as American-born workers – who must endure low-wage jobs in other profitable sectors in the U.S. food, retail, and global supply chain industries.
The victory is also being celebrated across the Pacific Ocean where the Melbourne-based Toll Group employs some 12,000 of Australian drivers united in the Transport Workers Union (TWU). The members view their U.S. counterparts as their “workmates” and have supported the port drivers from Day One to ensure that as Toll enters new global markets, the company replicates the constructive labor-management relations that made it so profitable Down Under.

“We couldn’t be prouder of our mates in America. From the beginning we said ‘your fight is our fight’ and today we say your victory is our victory,” said TWU Acting National Secretary Michael Kaine. “The standards of fairness and respect for workers should be upheld by Toll no matter where they operate. The message to industry is clear, in this global economy workers and unions across continents are already in alliance with each other and we will continue to support one another until we have a strong voice in our workplaces everywhere.”
The newly-inked contract with the Teamsters further gives another shot in the arm to the movement of port drivers fighting to overcome “misclassification” – illegally denying workers W-2 employment and benefits, a scam that keeps the American Dream out of their reach.Workers are coming forward with evidence for state and federal authorities as part of a coast-to-coast multi-industry crackdown on employers who disguise their employees as independent contractors to evade taxes, commit wage & hour violations, and quell unionization. The controversial practice is widespread in the deregulated trucking sector.

###
See here for an infographic and a summary of the contract. For more background on the Toll drivers’ campaign for justice, visit their website . Information on the blue-green coalition behind the nationwide movement to drive up worker standards and clean up U.S. seaports can be found here: www.CleanAndSafePorts.org

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———————
5.
>
>>>
>>> On Dec 31, 2012, at 4:05 PM, C. M. Lawless wrote:
>>>
>>> Dear Joe Berry,
>>>
>>> I am writing to you on behalf of Colorado Adjuncts, a nascent group
>>> advocating for change in Colorado’s community colleges (a system that
>>> employs approx. 4,000 adjuncts). Our group is small but we have made many
>>> strides in our first year. You can see some of our work on our Web site,
>>> Colorado Adjuncts under “Did You Know?” We are in a difficult situation on our campus. We are
>>> banned from putting any communication in faculty mailboxes, using the
>>> faculty e-mail system, etc.
>>>
>>> However, we have done so much in our first year, and are now forming an AAUP
>>> chapter.
>>> https://sites.google.com/site/coloradoadjunctswiki/home
>>>
>>> At present, we are promoting your book, “Reclaiming the Ivory Tower,” and
>>> are asking adjuncts and adjunct supporters to make a comment on our
>>> anonymous, online book blog. We follow your COCAL updates, of course.
>>> Everyone who has read the first chapter of the book is buzzing with
>>> confirmation, ideas, energy, etc.
>>>
>>> We are planning a second Film Series event in February, with a panel of
>>> state legislators and AAUP officials to field questions from the audience.
>>> We have no money, of course. However, I was curious if perhaps you might be
>>> in Colorado in February on some other business and would like to be on our
>>> panel. Our first Film Series/Panel was modestly successful, and we got some
>>> coverage on the local NPR affiliate. We would go after that again, of
>>> course, and in our press release explain your background and national
>>> stature in the movement. I would like to see if this NPR affiliate would do
>>> a longer interview with you prior to the event.
>>>
>>> I realize ours is a very poor request, but I am making it, regardless, on
>>> the off-chance you might be out this way in February on other business. Even
>>> if you cannot attend our modest event, I wonder if you might be willing to
>>> post a small comment on our anonymous book blog (on our Web site). It would
>>> be like a shot in the arm, Mr. Berry.
>>>
>>> Thank you for any consideration you give this idea and even if you can do
>>> none of this, thank you for your excellent, helpful book. It is like a
>>> bright light in a dark storm to us, you can imagine.
>>>
>>>
>>> Caprice Lawless
>>> Co-Founder, Colorado Adjuncts
>>> coloradocaprice@gmail.com
>>> Ph. 720-939-3094
>>> 601 Lois Drive
>>> Louisville, CO 80027
>>>
>> —————–

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Jan. 10, 2013
Contact: Caprice Lawless, Communications Director, Colorado Adjuncts
coloradocaprice@gmail.com
Ph. 720-939-3094

Colorado’s Community Colleges 99% Speak Out

While no official in the State of Colorado would admit that higher education for Coloradans doesn’t matter, the Colorado Community College System places such a low value on higher education that it pays its part-time faculty (also known as adjuncts, who are 71 percent of its faculty) no benefits and an average of $15,000 per year. It has done so for more than five years. These adjuncts, many of whom teach ¾ time, teach 70 percent of all classes. They earn a tiny fraction of what campus full-time teachers, deans, administrators, specialists and even custodians are paid.
Community college enrollments have skyrocketed to 151,000. Budget-minded students (and their parents) benefit from low-priced courses, as compared to Colorado’s four-year colleges and universities. The general public is unaware, however, of the devastating blow this Wal-Mart model is delivering to higher education.
It is not uncommon for community college adjunct faculty to apply for food stamps, county services and emergency family assistance to meet their bills. They qualify for (and receive) hardship and charity-status at local health clinics and hospitals. Because they have neither health insurance nor sick leave pay, they go to work when ill. They work two or three jobs to make ends meet, and their teaching often reflects the stress. They cannot qualify for unemployment between semesters because they have no long-term contracts with the CCCS. As a result, hundreds of community college teachers are leaving the profession each year. Many qualified to teach walk away from job offers when they discover the low pay. What happens when there are no more qualified teachers, and word gets out in graduate schools that teaching in colleges is a dying profession? How will Colorado attract good jobs if its front-line teachers work in a type of academic apartheid?
Meanwhile, according to a recent CCCS report, the system has a $3 billion impact on the state each year, and taxpayers receive a $1.70 return on every dollar spent. The rosy pictures painted by such studies fail to include hidden costs to taxpayers when low wages in higher education are the norm. The growing Colorado Adjuncts Index (available on our Web site) reveals the thorns amid the roses. Take a look, and send us your thoughts. Your comments will be useful to us in our forthcoming presentations to Colorado lawmakers.

Caprice Lawless, Sandra Keifer-Roberts and Carolyn Elliott
Co-Founders, Colorado Adjuncts
https://sites.google.com/site/coloradoadjunctswiki/

Colorado Adjuncts Index

Percentage of faculty in the Colorado Community College System (CCCS) who are adjunct: 71% 1
Percentage of all courses taught by adjunct faculty: 70% 2
Annual average, before-tax income, CCCS adjunct faculty members: $15,000 3
Annual median salary, Colorado State Employee Custodian III: $33,420 19
Living wage, minimum, Jefferson County, Colorado, one adult: $19,275 4
Number of adjuncts at work in CCCS, 2006-07(recent figure unavailable on CCCS Web site): 3,500 5
Number of times the terms “adjunct,” or “adjunct faculty” appear in the CCCS Strategic Plan: 0 6
Ranks of concern for salaries for full-time faculty and deans in 2011 CCCS Salary Survey: Top two 7
Recommended change to adjunct wages , 2011 CCCS Salary Survey: 0 7
Average salary, full-time faculty (9-months/year), per 2011 CCCS Salary Survey: $46,618 8
Average salary, CCCS deans, per 2011 CCCS Salary Survey: $74, 959 8
Average salary, CCCS vice-presidents, in 2010 per 2011 CCCS Salary Survey: $101,845 8
Average salary, CCCS level III directors, per 2011 CCCS Salary Survey: $86, 703 8
Annual Salary, CCCS President Nancy McCallin, 2009: $266,695 9
Total CCCS revenue, all sources (tuition and government), 2009-10: $543.494 million 10
Total CCCS expenses, 2009-10: $493.196 million 11
Total CCCS full and part-time faculty and staff, 2009-10: 5,634 12
Total CCCS full and part-time faculty and staff, 2009-10 less 3,500 adjunct faculty: 2,134
Total CCCS combined payroll, 2009-10: $268.633 million 13
Estimated CCCS adjunct payroll (3,500 x $15,000), 2009-10: $52.5 million 14
Number of students, CCCS statewide, 2009-10: 151,000 15
Value of unpaid labor CCCS adjunct faculty annually donate to Colorado taxpayers: $19 million 16
Price tag, one-stop student center, completed 2012, Westminster campus: $5.253 million 17
The number of people teaching in American colleges and universities: 1.5 million 18
The number of those teachers who are adjunct or contingent faculty: 1 million 18

Sources
1 Colorado Community College System. “Our Funding,” Colorado Community College Sourcebook,
2008, p. 4. Web Jan. 6, 2013.
http://www.cccs.edu/Docs/Communication/sb/Funding.pdf
2 Colorado Adjuncts. “An Informal Q&A with President Andy Dorsey.” Adjunct Network, 1.2, p.
4, Spring, 2012, Web 6 Jan. 2013.
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=sites&srcid=ZGVmYXVsdGRvbWFpbnxjb2xvcmFkb2FkanVuY3Rzd2lraXxneDo2OGEzMmU3MzczOTUwNGQ0
3 Colorado Community College System. “Our Funding,” Colorado Community College Sourcebook,
2008, p. 3. Web Jan. 6, 2013.
http://www.cccs.edu/Docs/Communication/sb/Funding.pdf
4 Gastmeier, Amy and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. “Living Wage Calculation,
Jefferson County, Colo.” Living Wage Calculator: Poverty in America, 2012, Web 6 Jan. 2013.
http://livingwage.mit.edu/counties/08059
5 Cashwell, Allison. “Factors Affecting Part-time Faculty Job Satisfaction in the Colorado
Community College System.” Diss. Colorado State University, 2009, p. 5. Web 21 May 2012.
http://digitool.library.colostate.edu///exlibris/dtl/d3_1/apache_media/L2V4bGlicmlzL2R0bC9kM18xL2FwYWNoZV9tZWRpYS84MDMyNQ==.pdf
6 Colorado Community College System. Strategic Plan, n.d., CCCS, Web 6 Jan. 2013.
http://www.cccs.edu/Docs/About/StrategicPlan.pdf
7 McDonnell, Barbara (Executive Vice President, CCCS). Salary Survey Discussion. State Board of
Community Colleges and Occupational Education, May 11, 2011, p.1, Web 6 Jan. 2013.
http://www.cccs.edu/Docs/SBCCOE/Agenda/2011/05May/051111-WrkSessionAgnda%20I-J-Salary%20Survey%20Discussion.pdf
8 Heier, Cynthia (Executive Director, Human Resources, CCCS). Salary and Benefits Comparison. State
Board of Community Colleges and Occupational Education, May 11, 2011, pp. 63-87, Web 6
Jan. 2013.
http://www.cccs.edu/Docs/SBCCOE/Agenda/2011/05May/051111-WrkSessionAgnda%20I-J-Salary%20Survey%20Discussion.pdf
9 Perez, Gayle. “CSU Chancellor Lower Pay Not Uncommon,” The Pueblo Chieftain, July 25, 2009,
Web 6 Jan. 2013.
http://www.chieftain.com/news/local/csu-chancellor-s-lower-pay-not- uncommon/article_29919f7a-7540-5305-ae0c-31ee7393f26e.html
10 Economic Modeling Specialists, Int. Economic Contributions of the Colorado Community College System,
Main Report, Jan. 2012, p. 11. CCCS, Web 7 Jan. 2013.

Home


11 Economic Modeling Specialists, Int. Economic Contributions of the Colorado Community College System,
Main Report, Jan. 2012, p. 12. CCCS, Web 7 Jan. 2013.

Home


12 Economic Modeling Specialists, Int. Economic Contributions of the Colorado Community College System,
Main Report, Jan. 2012, p. 11. CCCS, Web 7 Jan. 2013.

Home


13 Economic Modeling Specialists, Int. Economic Contributions of the Colorado Community College System,
Main Report, Jan. 2012, p. 11. CCCS, Web 7 Jan. 2013.

Home


14 Cashwell, Allison.)“Factors Affecting Part-time Faculty Job Satisfaction in the Colorado
Community College System.” Diss. Colorado State University, 2009, p. 5. Web 21 May 2012.
http://digitool.library.colostate.edu///exlibris/dtl/d3_1/apache_media/L2V4bGlicmlzL2R0bC9kM18xL2FwYWNoZV9tZWRpYS84MDMyNQ==.pdf (using Cashwell’s figure of 3,500 adjuncts, 2006-07) and annual salary, per adjunct, of $15,000 per: Colorado Community College System. “Our Funding,” Colorado Community College Sourcebook, 2008, p. 3. Web Jan. 6, 2013.
http://www.cccs.edu/Docs/Communication/sb/Funding.pdf
15 Economic Modeling Specialists, Int. Economic Contributions of the Colorado Community College System,
Main Report, Jan. 2012, p. 12. CCCS, Web 7 Jan. 2013.

Home


16 Colorado Adjuncts. “Signs for Library Display, Campus Equity Week Oct. 22, 2012.” Colorado
Adjuncts, Web 7 Jan. 2013.
https://sites.google.com/site/coloradoadjunctswiki/home/the-books
17 Colorado Community College System. “Our Funding,” Colorado Community College Sourcebook,
2008, p. 15. Web Jan. 6, 2013. http://www.cccs.edu/Docs/Communication/sb/Funding.pdf
18 Bérubé, Michael. “From the President: Among the Majority.” Modern Language Association, n.d.,
Web Jan. 6, 2013.
http://www.mla.org/blog?topic=146
19 Nesbitt, K., Layton-Root, D. “Appendix B: Salary Survey Reference.” Annual Compensation Survey Report for
FY 2013-2014, Colorado Department of Personnel & Administration. Aug. 1, 2012, p. 30. Web
10 Jan. 2013.
http://www.colorado.gov/cs/Satellite?blobcol=urldata&blobheader=application%2Fpdf&blobkey=id&blobtable=MungoBlobs&blobwhere=1251812147170&ssbinary=true

# # #
—————
8. YES, but do it quickly before I end up under the Oakton train.

From: Joe Berry
Sent: Thursday, January 10, 2013 3:42 PM
To: Chester Kulis
Subject: Re: HYBRID COURSE (LOW CLASSROOM OVERHEAD) + ADJUNCT (CHEAP EXPLOITED LABOR) = $$$ PROFITS

can I circulate this on COCAL Updates?

Joe
On Jan 10, 2013, at 12:14 AM, Chester Kulis wrote:

> Adjunct unions need to take up issue of adequate training and compensation for implementing new technology such as Pearson’s MyLab textbook and D2L.
>
> Adjuncts are not opposed to new technology. But administrators should give us an estimate about how many hours adjuncts were expected to spend learning about MySocLab and D2L and then actually incorporating them into their courses. These hours are beyond their office hours, class time, and normal preparation of the material. We should also be fairly compensation for the additional time we spend.
>
> For an adjunct who teaches just one or even two courses a semester, making this commitment is problematic. We are already overworked and underpaid. Do any of us want our kids to be an adjunct?
>
> There also seems to be inconsistent expectations and rules. Some colleges and departments suggest that we should try to incorporate these new technologies gradually and at our comfort level, while others expect them to be implemented yesterday and make technology part of the evaluation process. Often the technology still has glitches.
>
> Training for these new technologies is usually geared to the FT faculty during the daytime, often during their Orientation Week when they have to be on campus. Training is not offered in the evening or on weekends when adjuncts might be available. FT faculty learn these technologies as part of their salaried responsibility, while adjuncts don’t get additional compensation and much of their effort is on their own time at home. Administrators even expect adjuncts who work FT elsewhere to use their vacation time to get trained at their college during the day.
>
> Per Board policy Oakton Community College will be developing 40 “hybrid courses” (1 1/2 hour in class and 1 1/2 hour online) within the next four years. I thought that using adjuncts was the cheapest way to go. But now Oakton has come up with an even cheaper pedagogy. Using adjuncts + hybrid courses = cheap labor exploitation + less overhead in classroom use. The bottom line: more profits for the educational establishment and higher salaries for administrators.
>
> D2L technology even allows teachers to “spy”on their students to see whether they did readings or assignments, since the program will actually show when a student began and ended a chore. I was surprised to hear of this capability and asked whether the students were told about it. No, an administrator replied, they had not, but the “spying was for a good purpose.” I replied that so is waterboarding and drones.
>
> One administrator was unapologetic about this new technology which he claimed is the future. “It’s about time that everyone realizes that the train is leaving the station.” Maybe some faculty might end up under the train. He suggested that adjuncts could be personally trained by him and that would be our training, if we cannot make it to training during the day.
>
> Many adjuncts have spent 20-30+ hours just mastering the basics of these two new technologies and implementing them into their courses – without adequate training and fair compensation.
>
> At a recent meeting the D2L system crashed during the orientation.
>
> I just hope that the administration did not have D2L cameras in the ceiling spying on us.
>
> Chester Kulim
> Member
> Oakton Adjunct Faculty Association
———————–
14. I just learned that Dr. Yilin Sun, from Seattle Central Community College
has been elected President-Elect of TESOL (Teachers of English to Speakers
to Other Languages).

She is a tenured professor of ESL, but has been supportive of non-tenured
faculty issues. She’s attended two COCAL conferences, COCAL IV in San Jose
in 2001 and COCAL VIII in San Diego in 2008. I got to know her in the late
1990’s as when she chaired the Sociopolitical Concerns committee of the
Washington state affiliate of TESOL (WAESOL).

She will assume her position as President-Elect at the March 2013 TESOL
convention in Dallas and then will become TESOL president at the 2014
convention in Portland, Oregon.

Best wishes,

Jack Longmate

———
17. —– Forwarded Message —-
From: aaup-news
Sent: Sat, January 12, 2013 9:41:25 AM
Subject: FW: Iris Molotsky Award for Excellence in Coverage of Higher Education

In 1970 the AAUP established a Higher Education Writers Award, which was presented for outstanding interpretive reporting on higher education. The award was presented annually until 1986, when its presentation was suspended. Because of AAUP’s strong belief in the importance of providing the public regularly with reliable and informed information about higher education issues, the Association is again offering the award, renamed the Iris Molotsky Award for Excellence in Coverage of Higher Education. Ms Molotsky served as the AAUP’s Director of Public Information for 19 years.

The purpose of the award is to recognize and stimulate coverage of higher education nationally and to encourage thoughtful and comprehensive reporting of higher education issues. The AAUP Award is given for outstanding coverage of higher education exhibiting analytical and investigative reporting. Entries will be judged on the basis of their relevance to issues confronting higher education.

Entries for the award must have been published between January 1 and December 31 of the prior year. Entries may be single articles or a series, but editorials and columns will not be considered for the award.

Submissions may be made by media organizations or employees. Applicants may be self-nominating. Each application must be accompanied by an entry form. Download information and the application form. (.pdf)

Entries must be postmarked by April 15.

Please contact Robin Burns at the AAUP’s Washington office for more information.

Robin Burns
Assistant Director for Media Relations
American Association of University Professors
1133 19th St., NW, 2nd Floor
Washington, DC 20036
rburns@aaup.org
http://www.aaup.org/AAUP
Follow the AAUP on Facebook, Twitter, and Flickr.
_______________________________________________
adj-l mailing list
adj-l@adj-l.org
http://adj-l.org/mailman/listinfo/adj-l_adj-l.org
>
>
————-
19 Hi everyone,

Yesterday CCSF had a very successful activity to let San Francisco voters know about the situation with Proposition A funds and how it is affecting our students. The media was there during the press conference. However, I have not seen this activity repeated in many TV news programs.

• Please call the following TV channels and request the program director to show the footage in their news programs.
• If you are outside the Bay Area, ask the program director that you would like to be informed about what is going on in CCSF and to please show the footage of the CCSF activity.
Now is the time you can help in our struggle.

KCSM (650) 574-6586
KRON (415) 441-4444
KTVU (510) 834-1212
KPIX (415) 756-0928
KQED (415) 864-2000

These telephone numbers are the general information numbers. If you have other telephone numbers or emails addresses, spread the word.

Thank you for your cooperation,

Hugo Aparicio
Business Instructor
City College of San Francisco
Business Department C-310 Box 128
50 Phelan Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94112
(415) 239-3695
——————————————
Please use
510-527-5889 phone/fax
21 San Mateo Road,
Berkeley, CA 94707

“Access to Unemployment Insurance Benefits for Contingent Faculty”, by Berry, Stewart and Worthen, published by Chicago COCAL, 2008. Order from

“Reclaiming the Ivory Tower: Organizing Adjuncts to Change Higher Education”. by Joe Berry, from Monthly Review Press, 2005. Look at for full information, individual sales, bulk ordering discounts, or to invite me to speak at an event.

See Chicago Coalition of Contingent Academic Labor, for news, contacts and links related to non-tenure track, “precarious” faculty, and for back issues of the periodic news aggregator, COCAL Updates. Email joeberry@igc.org to be added to the list.

See for information on the Tenth (X) Conference on Contingent Academic Labor in Mexico City, August 10-12, 2012 at Univ. Nacional Auto. de Mexico (UNAM), Mexico City.

To join international COCAL listserve email If this presents problems, send an e-mail to vtirelli@aol.com
or, send “Subscribe” to

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New issue of Critical Education: Pedagogy and Privilege: The Challenges and Possibilities of Teaching Critically About Racism

Posted on January 14, 2013 | Comments Off on New issue of Critical Education: Pedagogy and Privilege: The Challenges and Possibilities of Teaching Critically About Racism

Critical Education
Vol 4, No 1 (2013)
Table of Contents
http://ojs.library.ubc.ca/index.php/criticaled/issue/view/182400

Articles
——–
Pedagogy and Privilege: The Challenges and Possibilities of Teaching
Critically About Racism
Ken Montgomery

Abstract
This reflective paper examines both the challenges and possibilities of drawing teacher education candidates into critical examination of cultural, structural, historical, and discursive dimensions of racism in the North American context. It considers the importance of fostering both a critical consciousness and humility amongst undergraduate education students as part of the process of preparing them to read and act upon schools and societies in ethically and politically responsible ways. It delineates some of the challenges in attempting to do this and offers up for discussion a few practical strategies for teaching against, through, and about the resistance and denials which often accompany efforts to teach critically about racism in university settings.

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COCAL Updates in brief

Posted on January 9, 2013 | Comments Off on COCAL Updates in brief

Updates in brief and links

1. Chicago Teachers vs the Fat Cats — a great new You Tube Video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1eV8EHII5Q

2. Good letter to the editor of Cape Cod local paper by our colleague Betsy Smith
http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130101/OPINION/301010339&cid=sitesearch

3. Good piece on administrative bloat at I of Minnesota (see below)

4. Piece on musicians and adjunct faculty by our colleague Paul Haeder
http://dissidentvoice.org/2013/01/symphony-blues-low-wages-no-benefits-but-plenty-of-applause/

and another of his blogs at
http://dissidentvoice.org/2013/01/i-am-an-english-teacher/

and http://dissidentvoice.org/2013/01/what-the-majority-is-to-the-minority/#more-47090

5. Advice for parents of prospective college students re: Adjuncts.
http://thenewfacultymajority.blogspot.com/2012/07/quick-reference-guide-for-parents-on.html

and http://www.thecollegesolution.com/the-dangers-of-being-taught-by-part-timers/

and http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505145_162-57554450/do-colleges-exploit-their-professors/

6. New NLRB complaint issued against East-West U in chicago over firing (non-re-employmnent) of adjunct union activists there (see below)

7. “For Profit” play to be shown at Bates College, Lewiston, Maine. See below for details or http://www.bates.edu/mlk/

8. How the FBI and others coordinated the crackdown on Occupy last fall. some lessons for us here.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/dec/29/fbi-coordinated-crackdown-occupy

9. Adjunct Project 2.0 website up. Check it out.

http://www.adjunctproject.com/new-year-new-website-new-victories/

10. Plans for Campus Strike at Indiana U, Bloomington
http://socialistorganizer.org/campus-strike-indiana-university/

11. Private for-profit businesses are now taking over hiring an d employment of school workers for some districts.

see http://www.source4teachers.com/

12. More on IRS and calculating adjunct hours and % of load for health care act purposes: proposed rules out for comment
http://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2013/01/07/irs-starts-address-issues-adjunct-faculty-hours

and http://chronicle.com/article/IRS-Says-Colleges-Must-Be/136523/?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en

13. More on new Adjunct Project site with CHE
http://chronicle.com/article/Adjunct-Project-Show-Wide/136439

14. Chris Eckhardt dies, one of the original protestors in the famous Tinker vs Des Moines Board of Ed black armband anti-war demonstration case in 1965-6, from which came the famous quote, “neither students nor teachers leave their first amendment rights at the schoolhouse gate.” Wish it were more honored now. (Personal privilege, I, Joe Berry, was also one of this small group of protestors and knew Chris Eckhardt at the same Theodore Roosevelt High School. One of the proudest moments of my life, but very scary too.)
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2013301020030

14. A good movie recommendation by Bill Fletcher, leading union activist, labor educator and contingent faculty member.
http://atlantadailyworld.com/201301022818/Viewpoints/oliver-stone-s-untold-history-of-the-united-states-cannot-be-hushed-up-or-brushed-aside

15. Making the Case for Adjuncts (good comprehensive article)
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/01/09/adjunct-leaders-consider-strategies-force-change

16. U of Phoenix faces accredition problems, stock prices and enrollment drops
http://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/confessions-community-college-dean/burying-lede

17. Accreditors respond negatively to Longmate complaint about Washington CC.
http://chronicle.com/article/Regional-Accreditor-Rejects/136527/

18. Overall article on state of contingents in Canada (Thanks to Frank Cosco)
[Note to Canadians and other internationals: please send me relevant articles like this when they appear so I can resend them.]

http://www.universityaffairs.ca/sessionals-up-close.aspx

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Our Pass-Fail Moment: Livable Ecology, Capitalism, Occupy, and What is to be Done | Critical Education

Posted on December 17, 2012 | Comments Off on Our Pass-Fail Moment: Livable Ecology, Capitalism, Occupy, and What is to be Done | Critical Education

CRITICAL EDUCATION
Vol 3, No 10 (2012)
Our Pass-Fail Moment: Livable Ecology, Capitalism, Occupy, and What is to be Done
Paul Street

Abstract

The ecological crisis is the leading issue of “our or any time” posing grave threats to a decent and democratic future. If the environmental catastrophe isn’t forestalled, “everything else we’re talking about won’t matter” (Noam Chomsky). Like other issues leftists cite as major developments of the last half-century, the environmental crisis is intimately bound up with numerous other deep changes (growing inequality, authoritarian neoliberalism, corporate globalization, U.S. imperial expansion, and more) and grounded in the imperatives of capital and the profits system. Tackling the crisis in a meaningful way will bring numerous related and collateral benefits (including significant opportunities for socially useful and necessary work/employment) beyond and alongside environmental survival. To prioritize ecology is not to demote or delay radical social reconstruction. It means the elevation and escalation of the red project. It is highly unlikely that the crisis can be solved within the framework of capitalism.

This article was originally delivered as a Keynote Address at the Rouge Forum 2012: Occupy Education! Class Conscious Pedagogies and Social Change, on June 21, 2012 at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.

Keywords

Social Movements; Capitalism; Ecology; Occupy; Green Jobs; The Profits System; Revolution; Envrionment, Green Marxism; Rouge-Verde; ecological crisis

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Workplace #21 Launched: “In/stability, In/security & In/visibility: Tensions at Work for Tenured & Tenure Stream Faculty in the Neoliberal Academy”

Posted on November 13, 2012 | Comments Off on Workplace #21 Launched: “In/stability, In/security & In/visibility: Tensions at Work for Tenured & Tenure Stream Faculty in the Neoliberal Academy”

We are extremely pleased to announce the launch of Workplace Issue #21, “In/stability, In/security & In/visibility: Tensions at Work for Tenured & Tenure Stream Faculty in the Neoliberal Academy” at http://ojs.library.ubc.ca/index.php/workplace/issue/view/182389

This Special Issue was Guest Edited by Kaela Jubas and Colleen Kawalilak and features a rich array of articles by Kaela and Colleen along with Michelle K. McGinn, Sarah A. Robert, Dawn Johnston, Lisa Stowe, and Sean Murray.

In/stability, In/security & In/visibility provides invaluable insights into the challenges and struggles of intellectuals coping with everyday demands
that at times feel relentless. As the co-Editors describe the Issue:

A tapestry of themes emerged… There were expressions of frustration, confusion, self-doubt, and disenchantment at having to work with competing agendas and priorities, both personal and institutional. Authors also spoke to how, even in challenging times and places, it is possible to find and create opportunities to survive and thrive, individually and collectively.

Narratives and findings therein will resonate with most if not all of us. We encourage you to review the Table of Contents and articles of interest.

Workplace and Critical Education are hosted by the Institute for Critical Education Studies (https://blogs.ubc.ca/ices/), and we invite you to submit manuscripts or propose special issues. We also remind you to follow our Workplace blog (https://blogs.ubc.ca/workplace/) and Twitter @icesubc for breaking news and updates.

Thanks for the continuing interest in Workplace,

Stephen Petrina & E. Wayne Ross, co-Editors
Workplace: A Journal for Academic Labor
Institute for Critical Education Studies
https://blogs.ubc.ca/ices/
http://ojs.library.ubc.ca/index.php/criticaled
http://ojs.library.ubc.ca/index.php/workplace

Workplace: A Journal for Academic Labor
No 21 (2012): In/stability, In/security, In/visibility: Tensions at Work for Tenured & Tenure Stream Faculty in the Neoliberal Academy
Table of Contents
http://ojs.library.ubc.ca/index.php/workplace/issue/view/182389

Articles
——–
In/stability, In/security & In/visibility: Tensions at Work for Tenured &
Tenure Stream Faculty in the Neoliberal Academy
Kaela Jubas, Colleen Kawalilak

Navigating the Neoliberal Terrain: Elder Faculty Speak Out
Colleen Kawalilak

Being Academic Researchers: Navigating Pleasures and Pains in the Current
Canadian Context
Michelle K. McGinn

On Being a New Academic in the New Academy: Impacts of Neoliberalism on
Work and Life of a Junior Faculty Member
Kaela Jubas

“You Must Say Good-Bye At The School Door:” Reflections On The Tense
And Contentious Practices Of An Educational Researcher-Mother In A
Neoliberal Moment
Sarah A. Robert

If It’s Day 15, This Must Be San Sebastian: Reflections on the Academic
Labour of Short Term Travel Study Programs
Dawn Johnston, Lisa Stowe

Teaching and Tenure in the Vocationalized University
Sean Murray

________________________________________________________________________
Workplace: A Journal for Academic Labor
http://ojs.library.ubc.ca/index.php/workplace

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Chan v UBC Hearing Scheduled at BC Supreme Court

Posted on October 30, 2012 | Comments Off on Chan v UBC Hearing Scheduled at BC Supreme Court

The BC Supreme Court has scheduled a Hearing date for the Jennifer Chan v UBC and others [Beth Haverkamp, David Farrar, Jon Shapiro, Rob Tierney] racial discrimination case for Tuesday 13 November 2012 at 10am.  In January this year, BC Human Rights Tribunal decided to move the case to Hearing. In March, UBC petitioned to the BC Supreme Court for a judicial review to challenge the BCHRT’s decision. The Hearing is now in front of the BC Supreme Court and open to the public:

The Supreme Court is located at 800 Smithe Street (between Hornby and Howe).

The case involves the David Lam Chair in Multicultural Education selection process in Fall 2009. Please see the Ubyssey’s (UBC student newspaper) feature article for background to the case.

Two new, similar complaints were accepted for filing by the BCHRT:
1) by an aboriginal Law Professor at UBC alleging denial of Tenure and Promotion on the basis of race, colour, ancestry, place of origin, marital status, family status and sex.

2) by an anonymous Professor in BC alleging denial of Tenure and Promotion on a basis of her ancestry and place of origin.

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