PRESS RELEASE: Part-Time Faculty at The New School Will Strike Wednesday November 16th
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 15, 2022
Media Contact: Zoe Carey, president@actuaw.org, 718-986-1736
Part-time faculty at The New School, Members of Academics Come Together UAW Local 7902, vote overwhelmingly in favor of strike authorization and will strike starting Wednesday November 16th.
New York, NY: With their current contract expired at midnight on November 13th, part-time faculty at The New School have voted by 97% to authorize a strike, with 87% of the part-time faculty working this semester participating. Unless The New School relents from its intransigence at the bargaining table, the part-time faculty will go out on strike starting Wednesday November 16th. An overwhelming 1,307 part-time faculty majority of the roughly 1,678 part-time faculty working this semester are willing to withhold labor to fight for meaningful wage increases, no cuts to healthcare, and third-party protection from harassment and discrimination.
Across the country, exploited academic workers have been organizing en masse for fair pay and decent working conditions. The New School's reputation rests on its progressive history and professed values -- a reputation with which its treatment of workers fails to align.
Part-time faculty are 87% of The New School’s instructional staff. The university's spending on their salaries comprises a mere 7.5% to 8.5% of its budget. While administrative bloat is a problem in universities across the country, The New School pays 2.3 times the national average on administration relative to instruction. Part-time faculty have not received a raise in over four years; as a result, their real earnings are down 18% from 2018. After making only three compensation proposals in over 28 sessions, the university’s final offer is a mere 3.5% wage increase in a time of record inflation.
“With my income from teaching grossing at $8,598 per year for two semester-long courses,” said Annie Lee Larson, machine knitting professor at Parsons School of Fashion and Unit Chair for the Part-Time Faculty, “I am forced to take on 2 to 3 other jobs outside of teaching in order to make ends meet.” While some part-time faculty rely on a spouse or a full-time job to support themselves, many, like Larson, do not. “I don’t have a safety net,” said Larson. “I live alone in one of the most expensive cities in the world. If I can’t pay my rent or bills, nobody else is stepping in to help.”
The university continues to refuse to pay part-time faculty as teachers for the work they perform outside the classroom. Essential union demands for basic recourse against harassment, discrimination and other workplace abuses have been rejected.
The New School has failed to bargain fairly or act on its tradition of progressive values. The university has now made their final, totally unacceptable offers on pay and benefits. Therefore, the union will strike November 16th should The New School fail to meet them at the table.
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About ACT-UAW 7902: Founded in 2002, ACT-UAW Local 7902 represents over 5,000 part-time and adjunct teachers, student educators, and healthcare workers. It consists of four units: the NYU Adjuncts, New School part-time faculty, student employees at The New School, and New School student health service employees.