After months and months of delays, the university finally presented formal responses to the bargaining committee’s proposals on October 12th, 13th, 14th, and 17th. The university’s responses range from the disappointing to downright cruel, though there are a few bright spots. Find a quick summary below and read the rest of the post for a detailed overview.

This week’s bargaining session was brief but significant. For the 5th week in a row, the university’s team showed up with zero counter proposals. If it were up to them, they would not have shown up at all. This was reflected in Tyce’s tone, which was impatient and agitational from the start.

Part-time faculty graded the latest bargaining update from the university.

Part-time faculty received this letter from HR on September 13. It gets a D - needs work!

Genaira Tyce, attorney at union-busting law firm Akerman LLP, has officially taken the reins as the New School’s lead negotiator. Despite this shift in representation, bargaining session #10 felt exactly the same as the last - No new counter-proposals from the school, with absolutely zero substantive contract discussion. The university is shelling out a fortune for this new outside counsel, but all we’re getting is a rerun.

Part-time faculty have now presented the entirety of their contract proposals, so the university has no more excuses for delaying negotiations. Despite the university’s handoff of negotiations to an outside law firm, the bargaining team is hopeful a new contract can be finalized before the current contract expires on November 13th. 

The university has hired a corporate law firm, signaling they would rather spend thousands of dollars on outside counsel than give part-time faculty equitable pay. This marks a stark shift in the collective bargaining process, but no matter what curveballs the new team may throw, part-time faculty remain committed to bargaining a strong, new contract.

The part-time faculty bargaining team showed up prepared to forge a path forward and presented ten responses to the counter proposals made by the university at our last two bargaining sessions. In some cases, the bargaining team accepted the university’s suggestions; in others, the team proposed fair compromises. The New School’s lead negotiator did not bring any new counter proposals and remained closed to finding common ground on one key change the union wants to see going forward: how complaints regarding discrimination and harassment are handled. 

Last week, our union’s lead negotiator, Annie Lee Larson, presented a compensation proposal that would overhaul divisive compensation structures, establish a pay floor, dramatically expand longevity increases, and require annual cost of living increases for all part-time faculty at the New School.

On August 12th, we held our fourth session with The New School via Zoom conference and the university administration made its priorities very clear: they intend to delay this process as much as possible, while insisting that the union is not moving quickly enough.

On August 12th, we held our fourth session with The New School via Zoom conference and the university administration made its priorities very clear: they intend to delay this process as much as possible, while insisting that the union is not moving quickly enough.

Our third bargaining session with The New School administration laid bare our commitment to reaching a new agreement - while we were prepared with a thoughtful and comprehensive proposal on job security, the university showed up empty handed.

On July 15, representatives from the New School and the Part-Time Faculty Union met for the second time to bargain the part-time faculty union contract.

On Thursday, June 30th at 11:15 AM, the part-time faculty gathered on Zoom for the first bargaining session with administrators from the university. The bargaining committee (BC) was in attendance, led by New School Part-Time Faculty Unit Chair, Annie Lee Larson, and Zoe Carey, our union’s president.