Bargaining Session 22 | November 7
Is This What Social Justice Looks Like?
At our bargaining session today, the university continued to make proposals to strip faculty of accrued paid sick leave and health insurance. The university continued to propose hiking premium and out-of-pocket healthcare costs. The university proposed paltry raises. And the university again rejected the bargaining committee’s proposal to provide part-time faculty, who are 87% of the teaching staff, real curricular input.
Paid Sick leave. The university continues to propose stripping faculty members of accrued paid sick leave. Coming on the heels of a pandemic, and in light of this year’s terrible flu season, the university’s proposal is heartless.
Healthcare. The university continues to propose stripping some faculty of health insurance coverage entirely; hiking premiums; and providing itself with the complete authority to hike copays/coinsurance, deductibles, and out-of-pocket maxes. As with the university’s proposal to strip faculty of accrued paid sick leave, this proposal is cruel.
Paltry Raises and More Unpaid Labor. The university offered negligible raises and continues to maintain that it will only pay faculty for the hours that they spend inside the classroom with students, not for any of the work we perform outside of it. See the chart below:
Curricular Input: Part-time faculty are 87% of the university’s teaching staff. The bargaining committee put forward a proposal that would provide part-time faculty with a real say over their programs’ curricula. The university continues to reject the proposal despite tweaks that the bargaining committee made to address the university’s negotiating team’s concerns. The New School has repeatedly said that it values part-time faculty, but its continued rejection of this proposal suggests otherwise.
Attend Bargaining
Interested in hearing what the university says at the bargaining table? You can attend bargaining by RSVP’ing here. Bargaining is open to part-time faculty union members.
Strike Authorization Vote
As a result of the university’s cruel proposals and repeated delays, the part-time faculty bargaining committee urges you to vote “yes” to authorize a strike, if circumstances justify.
To vote, search for an email with subject line “STRIKE AUTHORIZATION VOTE BALLOT” that was sent from “ACT-UAW Local 7902 <noreply@electionrunner.com>.” Click on the link in the email and follow the directions. Your vote is important!
Questions? Email organizer@actuaw.org
Strike School
The part-time faculty must be prepared in the event that a strike is necessary. Sign up for picket line duties and other strike roles, get answers to any remaining questions, and more.
Wednesday, November 9, 6-7:30pm on Zoom
Friday, November 11, 10 - 11:30am on Zoom
Saturday, November 12, 4 - 5:30pm on Zoom