Tag Archives: AFT

SUNY faculty union drops AAUP affiliation

Inside Higher Ed: Faculty Labor Divorce
United University Professions, the union that represents faculty members and other academic employees at 29 campuses of the State University of New York, is dropping its affiliation with the American Association of University Professors.
The Delegate Assembly of the UUP — which has for several years been debating the wisdom of maintaining AAUP ties — voted 100 to 98 on Saturday to disaffiliate from the AAUP. The UUP retains its affiliations with the American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association. (The AAUP, best known for its work as a professional association, also acts as a union for collective bargaining at some campuses, and it was in that context that UUP has been affiliated with the AAUP.)

Read more: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2012/02/06/suny-faculty-union-drops-aaup-affiliation#ixzz1ld6M6BM8
Inside Higher Ed

Unions Confront the Fault Lines Between Adjuncts and Full-Timers

The Chronicle: Unions Confront the Fault Lines Between Adjuncts and Full-Timers
Some look beyond the big unions for real improvement in working conditions

The largest organizers of college faculty unions—the American Association of University Professors, the American Federation of Teachers, and the National Education Association—have made big strides in recruiting adjunct instructors and helping them gain representation through collective bargaining.

But the three groups have a long way to go before their membership and their leadership reflect the dominant role that adjunct instructors play in the higher-education work force, a Chronicle survey of the organizations reveals. Such instructors now account for about two-thirds of all faculty members employed by public and private colleges.

Some Union Members Are More Equal Than Others

Commentary

The Chronicle: Some Union Members Are More Equal Than Others

By Keith Hoeller and Jack Longmate

Do tenure-track and adjunct faculty belong in the same union? A 1980 U.S. Supreme Court decision ruled that tenure-track faculty are “managerial employees” and not entitled to unions in the private sector. But in public-sector unions, tenured professors are often combined with contingent faculty, who are certainly not “managerial.” Tenure-stream faculty supervise the adjuncts, determining workload, interviewing, hiring, evaluating, and deciding whether to rehire them. Gregory Saltzman observed in the National Education Association’s “2000 Almanac of Higher Education” that combined units may not be ideal because of the “conflicts of interests between these two groups.”

In fact, the unequal treatment of professors by their unions has come to resemble the plot of George Orwell’s dystopian novel Animal Farm.

Chicago Teachers Union CORE Caucus Upends Old Mis-leaders in Landslide Vote!

Chicago Teachers Union CORE Caucus Upends Old Mis-leaders in Landslide Vote!

From the CORE web site– “We support:
• Capping CTU officer and staff salaries to the average teacher salary prorated over 12 months.
• Limit standardized tests. Ban using test results to punish, label or denigrate schools, students or teachers.
• Repeal mayoral control of schools and restore our right to collectively bargain class sizes, counselor loads and stop school closings and reconstitutions.
• Lead legislation to fund all schools equitably and return all TIF (Tax Increment Financing) funds to each school taxing district.”

http://www.substancenews.net/articles.php?page=1472&section=Article (Substance News coverage)
http://coreteachers.com/ (Core Caucus website)

AFT Releases National Survey of Part-time & Adjunct Faculty

AFT Releases National Survey of Part-time & Adjunct Faculty

The latest report from AFT Higher Education, American Academic: A National Survey of Part-time/Adjunct Faculty, has just been released. Conducted by Peter Hart Research Associates, this national survey of part-time/ adjunct faculty examines:

  • who part-time/adjunct faculty are;
  • the conditions under which they work; and,
  • how they view their work and the challenges they face on campus.

The survey demonstrates that part-time/adjunct faculty are a diverse group. And, while they are committed to their teaching and eager to serve students, most express concerns about working conditions.

“What is happening in our colleges and universities today is directly linked to our country’s economic future” stated AFT President Randi Weingarten. “Adjunct and part-time faculty play such a critical role in educating our college students and we must work to ensure that they are fully supported.”
The survey is a national sample of 500 part-time and adjunct faculty employed in two- and four-year public and private nonprofit higher education institutions.

AFT 1021, part of United Teachers Los Angeles, representing over 10,000 teachers and professional education support personnel, passed the following motions at its meeting Thursday, 11/12/09.

AFT 1021, part of United Teachers Los Angeles, representing over 10,000 teachers and professional education support personnel, passed the following motions at its meeting Thursday, 11/12/09.

END THE AFGHANISTAN WAR AND SUPPORT DOMESTIC PROGRAMS
Whereas, polls show that a majority of the American people oppose continuation of the war in Afghanistan, 38% support immediate withdrawal, and only 25% favor any increase of troops to be sent there; and
Whereas, since 2001, US taxpayers have spent $ 230 billion on the war in Afghanistan, and
Whereas, military spending creates many fewer jobs than the same amount spent on infrastructure and other domestic needs (Robert Pollin and Heidi Garrett-Peltier, “The Wages of Peace,” The Nation, March 31, 2008), and
Whereas, the U.S. death toll in Afghanistan has escalated each year and 830 U.S. service members have been killed in Afghanistan so far as of 9/15/2009, and
Whereas, the $65 billion to be spent in Afghanistan this year, and the hundreds of billions of dollars required in coming years for counterinsurgency there, are desperately needed for urgent domestic social purposes, including health care for all, housing relief in the foreclosure crisis, full veterans benefits, and the creation of millions of jobs, therefore be it
Resolved, that AFT 1021 call for the U.S. government to end the war and occupation of Afghanistan and end its attacks on neighboring Pakistan; close all military bases in the region; and begin to withdraw all troops, mercenaries, contractors, and weapons immediately, and further
Resolved, that AFT 1021 call for the redirection of the military budget for Afghanistan to reparations for infrastructure and social programs for the Afghani people; and to expenditures to support returning US troops, and to meet urgent human needs domestically, such as education, healthcare, housing, jobs, and other social programs and public services, and further
Resolved, that AFT 1021 will undertake an educational campaign on these issues among its membership and seek to involve the members in the political tasks necessary to implement this resolution in public policy, and further
Resolved, that AFT 1021 endorse local, regional and national mobilizations this month and into the spring that support the goals of this resolution, and finally
Resolved, that AFT 1021 will communicate this resolution to its elected Congressional representatives and affiliates (CFT/AFT, LA County Federation of Labor, US Labor Against the War) with a request that they act accordingly.

___________

Emergency Resolution on the Current Crisis in Honduras

Whereas, following the June 28, 2009 military coup in Honduras, the AFL-CIO National Convention passed a resolution in September demanding immediate reinstatement of President Manuel Zelaya, restoration of all labor and democratic rights, and an immediate halt to all U.S. aid to the coup government; and

Whereas, a U.S.-brokered deal [the Tegucigalpa/San Jose Accords] to reinstate President Zelaya by November 5th — in preparation for the Nov. 29th elections — has unraveled, and the coup regime refused to restore Zelaya to the Presidency. As a result, President Zelaya, denouncing the “bad faith” of the U.S. government, said the Tegucigalpa/San Jose Accords were “a dead letter,” and

Whereas, President Zelaya is still taking refuge in the Brazilian Embassy and the Honduran people led by the National Resistance Front Against the Coup (including many teachers in the leadership) continue to mount massive daily demonstrations against the coup regime; which responds with mass tear-gassing and beating of protesters by U.S.-trained army and police in an attempt to suppress the popular will and prevent the exercise of democratic rights; and

Whereas, there is a total lack of political space for opposition candidates to campaign and for the expression of any dissident political opinion, and under the current coup regime, conditions for free, fair and open elections are non-existent; and

Whereas, the National Resistance Front has denounced the Nov. 29th elections as a scheme by “the de facto regime that is repressing the people and violating the civil and human rights of its citizens, with the goal of validating the dictatorship of the oligarchy,” and that participating in such an electoral exercise “would give legitimacy to the coup regime or its successor.” The Front also stressed that “our stance in opposition to the electoral farce will remain firm even if President Zelaya is reinstated between now and Nov. 29th, since 20 days or less is too short a time to dismantle an electoral fraud many months in the making,” and there is no time for opposition candidates to mount a campaign;

Therefore be it resolved, that AFT 1021 stand in solidarity with the heroic people of Honduras as they resist the savage repression of a military dictatorship, and fight to win real democracy and sovereignty for their country; and

Be it further resolved, that AFT 1021 send official letters to Congressional representatives, Secretary of State Hilary Clinton, and President Obama demanding that the U.S. government take strong measures against the repressive coup government in Honduras — and whatever government may succeed it as a result of the “electoral farce” scheduled for Nov. 29th. These measures should include: 1) Immediately break off all political and economic ties with the coup government and its successor; 2) Recall the U.S. ambassador; 3) Establish an economic embargo on all trade and aid to Honduras; 4) Freeze the U.S. bank accounts of the coup plotters and deny them visas for U.S. travel; 5) Shut down U.S. military bases in Honduras; and

Be it further resolved, that AFT 1021 demand that the U.S. government denounce and refuse to recognize the results of Nov. 29th elections or any electoral process organized under the repressive coup regime; and

Be it further resolved, that AFT 1021 will submit this resolution as an emergency resolution at the Delegate Assembly of the County Federation of Labor on Monday, November 16, 2009 and further encourage its other affiliates, such as CFT and AFT to adopt similar resolutions; and
Finally be it resolved, that AFT 1021 make common cause with other labor and community organizations, to develop a reliable support network for the National Resistance Front against the Coup, and for the labor unions, especially the teachers union, that are at the center of the Resistance movement in Honduras.

_______

Call for Statewide Day of Action to Support Public Education
Whereas, California public education from pre-kindergarten through college and adult ed, is facing its most dangerous crisis in years; with funding cuts, tuition increases, reduction of college seats available, furlough days for educators and support staff, and layoffs of employees and outright closures of entire departments; and
Whereas, new registrations for anti-union referenda have been introduced in order to further damage education workers and their unions, and
Whereas, the official national, state and, in many cases, local agendas for public education will result in increased class size, increased testing, teacher accountability measures which do not take into account many factors, and the creation of tiered categories of employment based on such measures, and
Whereas, following successful statewide events at CSU, UC and community college campuses in September, 2009, a conference is being held on October 24 in San Francisco to explore the possibilities of statewide actions to “Save public education! No budget cuts, fee hikes, or layoffs!
For state-wide student, worker, and faculty solidarity!”; therefore, let it be
Resolved, that AFT 1021 join the call for a statewide day of action to be held March 4, 2009, to include the demands of 1) restoring full funding of all public education, 2) assuring all of our students their right to a safe and free public education, 3) maintaining the rights of education employees to guaranteed pay, benefits and safe working conditions, and 4) ensuring adequate funding for the health, housing, jobs and safety of all working people; and further

Resolved, that AFT 1021 will organize within United Teachers Los Angeles (including bringing this resolution or a similar one to the House and Board of Directors of UTLA) its own internal education campaign, and mobilize support for an action locally, building coalitions with other education and affiliated unions, teachers, students, and community organizations to further the goals of this resolution, and finally
Resolved, that AFT 1021 will carry this resolution to CFT and to the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor for their concurrence and support.
________
Support the Call for Solidarity DAy III March and Rally in Washington, DC next spring

Resolved, that AFT 1021 call on the AFL-CIO and Change to Win to organize a Solidarity Day III march on Washington D.C. in the spring of 2010 to demand jobs, housing, health care, full funding for public education and social services, and peace.

________

Community Input on military academies and opposition to charters

Whereas, the forces of educational privatization and charter companies are making strong attempts to convert existing public school campuses throughout the country, and

Whereas, the forces of educational privatization and charter companies are seeking to convert new publicly-funded school construction projects to charters and other types of schools, and

Whereas, community, parent, faculty, labor, and youth voices are not part of the dialogue that allows for these charterizations and privatizations, and

Whereas, existing collective bargaining agreeements are being circumvented and ignored in this process, and

Whereas, many of these schools may be initiated or converted by private companies into military-style academies,

Therefore, let it be resolved, that the CFT insist that any new military and military-style academies in public school districts thaqt utilize school district resources conduct community forums where community stakeholders can provide input and vote on the militarization of the local school,

Be it further resolved, that the CFT discourage charterization and privatization of public schools in any form if community, labor, and parent voices are not included in the formation of these charter or private schools, receiving public dollars, or using publicly financed construction projects,

Be it finally resolved, that the CFT publicize this stand to all CFT locals and affiliates, and forward to the AFT for ratification at the 2010 AFT Convention.

AFT Wants TIAA-CREF to Promote ‘Fair Labor’

Inside Higher Ed: AFT Wants TIAA-CREF to Promote ‘Fair Labor’

The American Federation of Teachers Executive Council on Wednesday passed a resolution urging TIAA-CREF to take tougher stands in its investment decisions to promote “fair labor.” The resolution says that many companies in TIAA-CREF’s portfolio “routinely pay sub-poverty wages and suppress workers’ rights to organize and collectively bargain.” While TIAA-CREF has a fund that factors in social concerns of investors, the AFT resolution said that this fund is too narrow in what it excludes, and that a more expansive definition of socially conscious investing is needed to “promote the values and to meet all the financial needs” of AFT members whose retirement funds are handled by TIAA-CREF. A statement from TIAA-CREF defended its portfolio decisions, and called the company “a leader in advocating for corporate social responsibility.” The “socially screened funds and accounts give special consideration to companies’ environmental, social and governance records, and assess, among other things, employee relations, union relations, health and safety, and retirement and work/life benefits,” the statement said. Further, it said that in 2008, TIAA-CREF voted on management and shareholder proposals at more than 7,000 portfolio company meetings and that “we supported resolutions asking companies to disclose how they are addressing human rights issues.”

Hiding Adjuncts From ‘U.S. News’

Inside Higher Ed: Hiding Adjuncts From ‘U.S. News’

Everyone knows that adjuncts and graduate assistants do a lot of the teaching these days, right? Well, maybe not everyone.

The American Federation of Teachers on Wednesday posted a blog item asking how it is, given those well documented trends, that magazine rankings give parents the sense that most of the teaching at large universities is done by full-time faculty members. “The majority of top colleges report well over 80 percent of their faculty are full-time and a large number report that well over 90 percent of their faculty are full-time. University of Nebraska-Lincoln even reports that 100 percent of its faculty are full-time,” the blog says of institutions in the U.S. News & World Report rankings, a small part of which are based on the percentage of faculty who are full time. “Amazing!”

Philadephia: Teachers union targets Moore

The Philadelphia Inquirer: Teachers union targets Moore
A staff march on the art college was joined by conventioneers in Phila. for an AFT convention.

Waving signs and chanting, more than 100 members of the American Federation of Teachers Pennsylvania marched up the Benjamin Franklin Parkway yesterday to protest what they called unfair labor conditions at Moore College of Art and Design.

A backdoor approach to the merger of the AFT and NEA

A backdoor approach to the merger of the AFT and NEA
By Rich Gibson

Since the rank and file delegates to the 1998 convention of the National Education Association rejected a leadership scheme to merge the 2 million + member NEA with the American Federation of Teachers and its parent body, the AFL-CIO, NEA bosses have worked hard to win a merger through the back door.

The run-up and result of the 1998 vote is described here http://clogic.eserver.org/2-1/gibson.html

From 1998 on, NEA executives struggled for a merger in other ways, urging state affiliates to join the state AFL-CIO, locals to join county AFL-CIO affiliates, and so on.

In 2006, Reg Weaver, then the NEA president, hugged AFL-CIO president John Sweeney in the Hotel Del Coronado in San Diego, favorite watering spot of George W. Bush, and declared that the two had reached an agreement that would spur more merger efforts. Sweeney called it the “Most Important Thing in the History of the Labor Movement Since the Merger of the AFL-CIO.” That silly comment, and the hug of two truly bulbous but very well dressed old men, is described in Substance, here: http://www.substancenews.com/content/view/352/81/.

Why would the growing and relatively strong NEA want to merge with the moribund, corrupt, sold out, quisling, racist, AFL-CIO which loses tens of thousand every month and does less than nothing, actually employing violence against militant workers who fight concessions?

Well, the most common excuse: Solidarity.

That’s a hollow claim, a lie. The AFL-CIO won’t offer solidarity with the rank and file members of NEA. To the contrary, NEA members will simply add another layer of enemies, AFL-CIO hacks, and redouble that problem with the fact that NEA will have to pay dues, subsidize, the rot of the AFL-CIO.

The AFL-CIO and its affiliates do not unite workers. They divide us–by job, by race, by industry, even by views on taxation–the public sector vs the private.

Not a single top leader of any AFL union (or the NEA for that matter) believes in the reason most people think they join unions in the first place: the contradictory interests of workers and bosses.

Instead, labor mis-leaders believe in corporate-state unionism, that is, the unity of labor bosses, government, and corporate heads, “in the national interest.” That’s why you see the UAW losing a million members and doing nothing whatsoever, other than break the strikes of their own members, in order to “save the auto industry.” We see the results of that now.

The entire AFL-CIO (split about in two by opportunist competitors who formed the Change to Win coalition–from the most corrupt unions in the USA like the Teamsters–about three years ago) has refused to fight concessions and labor retreats, instead organized the decay and ruin of industrial work in the US, while its guiding union, the American Federation of Teachers, organized the wreckage of urban education in the US, supports merit pay and national standards in education.

So, really, why the NEA push to merge with the AFL-CIO?

It is probably because some NEA leaders at the top, like NEA boss Dennis Van Roekel, envision jobs for life in a merged body that might be able to draw back CTW as well. This would apply to local NEA leaders too, being promised perks from on high and yet another meeting to attend in a fancy resort, far from the classroom, topped off by a new prestigious title. In exchange, the labor aristocrats can offer elites greater control over educators and schooling in general. The education agenda is a war agenda. Arne Duncan recently described the Detroit schools as a “Homeland Security issue.” Obama, the demagogue, sits on top of a full-blown corporate state promising perpetual war and lost, or meaningless jobs. Such a nation will make seemingly odd demands on schools: high stakes exams, a national curricula, militarization, merit pay, more inequality, racism, sexism, irrationalism taught as truth, nationalism over all, etc.

For the NEA rank and file, the AFL-CIO is just another link in the handcuffs.

But for AFL-CIO bosses, the millions of dollars that would be collected from educators’ dues could stave off bankruptcy for a bit.

We can expect to hear more merger talk at the upcoming NEA representative assembly in San Diego in early July. We surely will not hear the sensible cry: Organize a general strike to win taxing the rich! Nor, When They Say Cutback, We Say Fightback! Nor, Concessions Don’t Save Jobs! Not unless that comes from some rule breakers in the rank and file who have the good sense to set aside the prison of normalcy, storm the podium, grab a microphone, and say it. Perhaps to lots of cheers. Remember to hold up your web site.

Two Part-time Faculty Unions Form in New York

AFT/FACE: Two Part-time Faculty Unions Form in New York

In back-to-back elections this spring, part-time/adjunct faculty teaching at two private colleges, the Manhattan School of Music and Cooper Union, have voted to unionize. The new unions are affiliated with the New York State United Teachers/AFT/NEA.

The Disappearing Tenure-Track Job

Inside Higher Ed: The Disappearing Tenure-Track Job

Year by year, various federal data sets are released, and document the steady growth of adjunct positions and decline of tenure-track jobs in the academic work force.

In an attempt to draw more attention to these shifts over time, the American Federation of Teachers is today releasing a 10-year analysis of the data, showing just how much the tenure-track professor has disappeared. The overall number of faculty and instructor slots grew from 1997 to 2007, but nearly two-thirds of that growth was in “contingent” positions — meaning those off of the tenure track. Over all, those jobs increased from two-thirds to nearly three-quarters of instructional positions.