Adjunct Faculty Joins AFT/NEA Union
Some 150 adjunct faculty at St. Francis College in Brooklyn Heights, N.Y., voted 2-1 in recent days to join the St. Francis Adjunct Faculty Union, an affiliate of the New York State United Teachers, AFT and the National Education Association (NEA).
The part-time faculty members are concerned about low wages, infrequent paychecks, lack of access to health insurance and other benefits their full-time colleagues enjoy, including office and storage space.
Says Michael Fontana, an adjunct in fine arts:
A union at St. Francis will give adjunct faculty the opportunity to speak to the administration with one collective voice about issues which we deem important. We are denied access to health care, regular pay increases, and a fair approach to pay compensation based on experience and time in service to the college and we need a union to right these wrongs.
