More adjunct professors aligning with unions
Adjunct faculty who teach at three Boston-area schools recently unionized, with Northeastern University the most recent — and largest — to jump on board since a national campaign pushing for adjunct unionization was launched in 2012.
And with similar efforts coming to fruition or underway in other U.S. cities, it's possible that adjuncts who teach part time at Central Massachusetts colleges and universities will join forces to protect their interests.
“I think this is a movement,” said Anne Fleche, an adjunct professor at Northeastern University who was on the union organizing committee.
Fleche believes the successful unionization last month of nearly 1,000 professors at Northeastern could inspire new efforts. Smaller groups at Tufts University and Lesley University in Cambridge voted to unionize in recent months, although adjuncts at Bentley University in Waltham rejected a union vote.
“We're the first ones to show this can be done on a massive level,” Fleche said.
Why do this? Profs seek a voice
For adjunct professors, unionization provides a layer of security in a job market that can be unpredictable. Fleche said a union gives Northeastern adjuncts a “seat at the table” to start, giving them a chance to have input about employment and education quality issues.
Fleche said the union's first concern is to create more stable employment for adjuncts.
But she sees potential to negotiate new benefits that adjuncts have not traditionally enjoyed, such as health insurance coverage, for example. Cost control effects?
Therein lies the sticking point for colleges and universities, who have increasingly used adjunct professors, when possible, to help manage their employment costs in recent years.
According to a white paper published by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), which represents the newly organized adjuncts in Greater Boston, 42 percent of all faculty at Boston-area nonprofit schools worked part time in 2011, an 145-percent increase since 2001.
The Association of Governing Boards of Colleges and Universities, a national association serving academic boards, published a report in 2013 that said about 70 percent of all faculty at nonprofit schools nationwide are non-tenured faculty, which includes, but is not limited to, adjuncts.
With the gravitation toward part-time, non-tenure track employment expected to continue, it's somewhat unsurprising that adjuncts are angling for more bargaining power, according to Jack Calareso, outgoing president of Anna Maria College in Paxton.
I can certainly understand why adjuncts would want to organize to increase the quality of their lives. I think it's a real challenge for institutions,” Calareso said.
It's not an issue that has hit Anna Maria yet, Calareso said. And an SEIU spokesman said there are no official campaigns to organize adjuncts at any Central Massachusetts school.
Big challenges, small schools
Calareso said that for small schools like Anna Maria, the prospect of a unionized adjunct workforce is daunting because the college would lose autonomy in setting pay and benefits at feasible levels.
Roughly half of all courses at Anna Maria are taught by adjuncts, he said.
“I think we'd be concerned if the movement created an expectation we can't meet,” Calareso added.
He noted that adjuncts are often working professionals who offer valuable perspectives to students. He said Anna Maria strives to be equitable by offering competitive pay and limiting the course load per person so they're not asked to do the about the same amount of work that full-time professors perform.
One faction of the local higher education scene that is versed in bargaining with adjunct professors is public institutions. Those schools, which include Fitchburg, Framingham and Worcester State universities, have long settled benefits, pay, and job descriptions through contract negotiations with adjuncts, who are represented by the Massachusetts Teachers Association.
Scott Greenberg, dean of continuing education at Framingham State, views working with a union favorably.
“In my mind, it creates a good work environment for all,” Greenberg said.
But Greenberg, who believes the recent unionization efforts in Boston will spread, also thinks they could prove challenging for small, private institutions.
“Unless you're going to raise the tuition, it could be difficult,” he said.
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