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AT EMERSON
PART-TIME FACULTY LEADS FIGHT
2 YEARS AFTER UNIONIZING
ADJUNCTS STILL SEEK PACT
By Jenna Russell, Globe Staff

Copyright 2003 Globe Newspaper Company
The Boston GlobeFebruary 2, 2003, Sunday, THIRD EDITION

Almost two years after part-time teachers at Emerson College voted to establish a labor union - the first of its kind at a private college in New England - they are still without a contract.

The faculty members went public with their frustrations last week, handing out fliers in front of college buildings and inviting a panel of national labor experts to cast a critical eye on the way colleges treat their part-time teachers.

"People are keeping an eye on us, because we're the first private college in the area that's been able to do this," said David Daniel, an adjunct professor of English and the president of the new Emerson union. "We want a contract that will be a good model, not a weak one." Although full-time professors are unionized at many public colleges, part-time teachers - or adjunct faculty - have only recently begun to organize, fueled by a broad shift in how colleges hire their teaching staff.

To save money on staffing, colleges in recent years have cut back on tenured jobs and hired more adjunct faculty. These teachers are generally paid according to how many classes they teach and do not receive the benefits or enjoy the job security of their full-time colleagues. About half of all professors nationwide are now part-time, according to the US Department of Education.

At Emerson, a small Boston campus known for its programs in communications and the arts, adjuncts outnumber full-timers. They are paid $2,800 per class, on average, according to Daniel; the college says the average is closer to $3,500. With its high concentration of adjuncts, Emerson became the test case in a citywide campaign to unionize adjunct faculty at private colleges.

"Because Boston is a center for higher education, there's hope that change there would have a multiplier effect," said Richard Moser, a field organizer with the American Association of University Professors, which has been a leader in the effort to unionize in the Hub.

But with high turnover, strong fears of retribution, and minimal office space on campus, adjuncts have been difficult to organize, said Moser. Part-time faculty members are organizing at other private colleges in Boston, he said, but details are being kept secret to protect aspiring union leaders.

At Emerson, despite 17 meetings between the college and the union since last February, the sides remain at odds on key issues: higher, more consistent pay and health benefits; work space on campus; and some assurance that higher-paid, veteran adjuncts will not be dismissed in favor of cheaper newcomers.

Without job security, said Moser, part-time professors may not feel free to engage in controversial debates. "That damages higher education," he said. "The pursuit of truth requires conflicting opinions."

Union leaders say Emerson administrators have slowed negotiations in an attempt to undermine the union. Administrators, in turn, accuse the union of declining to schedule talks this month or last summer - although the union says it took only two weeks off in August by mutual agreement.

"We wish the pace was quicker as well," said David Rosen, a spokesman for the college.

On Friday, hoping to help speed up the process, faculty members picketed with signs that said "Equal Pay for Equal Work" and handed out fliers outside Emerson buildings. At a public hearing held in the packed student union hall, speakers included the student government president and a Boston janitor.

Mandie Yanasak, a political performance major from Wisconsin, helped collect 700 student signatures in support of the union two years ago. Now a junior, she said she sometimes feels like she's contributing to the faculty's problems, just by paying her tuition.

"Our money is going for Emerson to hire lawyers . . . instead of to the teachers," she said, referring to the school's use of lawyers in bargaining. "When you're being taught by someone who has to teach at two or three other schools to make ends meet, it has an impact, not only on the time they can spend there, but on their state of mind."

Rosen declined to comment on faculty morale, but said classroom teaching and learning appears to be continuing at the same high level as always. The use of lawyers in bargaining isn't unusual, he said, and as for the public hearing, "Our perspective is that, while the process is underway, we negotiate at the bargaining table and not in the public arena." Jenna Russell can be reached at jrussell@globe.com.

 

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