In January, we blogged on the Plight of Adjunct Faculty Members. What is an adjunct faculty member? Most colleges and universities rely on adjunct, part-time, faculty members to teach their students. These instructors receive less pay and are not eligible for benefits. Just after our post was published, a well-written letter to the editor appeared in the Baltimore Sun from an adjunct faculty member that highlighted the need for adjunct faculty to organize for their own needs and those of students. I quote from the beginning of the letter:
When I was first hired in 2003 to teach English courses at the Community College of Baltimore County (CCBC), I was startled to learn that community college employees in Maryland didn't have the statewide right to collective bargaining. Having recently moved from California, it was difficult to understand how a large swath of public workers could be deprived of this basic democratic right.
I'm hopeful that this outmoded situation is about to be rectified. The General Assembly is considering two historic bills — House Bill 490 and Senate Bill 749 — that would enable all Maryland community college employees to form into bargaining units, if they so vote. The bills are co-sponsored by numerous legislators, supported by a coalition of union partners and endorsed by Gov. Martin O'Malley.
I should feel lucky. My job is an endangered species. The alarming national and state-wide trend is to eliminate full-time educators and replace us with adjunct professors who receive no benefits and who earn such abysmally low pay that it often puts many below the poverty line. In 1970, only 22 percent of U.S. professors were part-time. That national figure has increased to 68 percent. In Maryland nearly 80 percent of community college faculty are adjuncts. If this trend continues without any grassroots push-back, my job may well be slated for extinction.
In a country where equal pay for equal work has become a bedrock value, we should cringe at the two-tier compensation structure at our educational institutions. While adjuncts perform the same work as full-timers, they receive a fraction of the pay. When adjuncts get sick, they often can't afford a doctor. They have no offices, and they commonly commute to several different campuses to patch together a meager living. Though many teach college courses as a side job, a huge percentage rely on adjunct-teaching for their living.
Organizing efforts for adjunct faculty members are increasing. See this link for more. Lebau & Neuwoth attorneys often represent adjunct faculty contract disputes, disciplinary matters and EEO claims. We welcome your calls. Contact us here.
