The Student Worker Alliance continues to protest on behalf of adjunct faculty, nearly a year after AU’s adjuncts unionized and as contract negotiations continue between the University and the adjuncts.
Adjunct faculty, who are employed part time by the University, have been working without a contract since voting to unionize last February, The Eagle previously reported.
Adjunct professors earn substantially less than full-time tenured professors, and adjuncts are attempting to bridge that gap by unionizing, according to Ethan Miller, a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences and a member of the Student Worker Alliance.
“Many adjuncts are not paid enough to live off of,” Miller said. “Universities just aren’t hiring [full-time tenured professors] anymore because they know they can get away with [relying on adjuncts].”
SWA organized a protest on Feb. 14 to put pressure on the administration to continuing negotiating with SEIU Local 500, which represents the adjuncts, according to William Hirzy, a full-time chemistry professor and adjunct during the summer who participated in the protest.
Around 30 AU students and professors participated in the demonstration that started in Mary Graydon Center and ended with a march to the office of Provost Scott Bass.
“We made a statement,” Hirzy said. “It was an enthusiastic little event.”
The group chanted, “Roses are red, violets are blue. Give our adjuncts a rise, it’s the right thing to do” and “What do we do when students and workers are under attack? Stand up, fight back.”
Bass was in a meeting when the crowd arrived, according to Administrative Assistant Abigail Puskar. As a result, the small gathering dissipated after 30 minutes.
Assistant Vice President of University Communications Camille Lepre issued a brief statement saying that agreements between labor unions and employers take time to negotiate, and that only about 20 percent of first-time contracts are typically completed within the first year.
“Wages is one of those issues over which the parties will continue to negotiate in good faith,” Lepre said.
dmitchell@theeagleonline.com
