Monthly Archives: February 2011

Adjunct Alternative or Union Busting?

February 28, 2011

From http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2011/02/28/union_clashes_with_new_jersey_community_college_over_one_year_full_time_posititons

Some adjunct leaders outside of Ocean County, however, see this as problematic for the future of higher education. William Lipkin, treasurer of the New Faculty Majority, a national association representing adjuncts, and president of the New Jersey branch of the American Federation of Teachers, called the creation and use of these positions “exploitation.” He admitted he had not seen a model similar to the one being promoted at Ocean County College.

“If I were an adjunct there, I would jump at this opportunity,” Lipkin said. “If you had the opportunity to make 10 to 20 percent more, then why not? Still, as an advocate for equal rights in higher education, I would say that this is exploitation and that it has to be stopped. I could see if this catches on, all colleges will jump on this.”

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Union workers rally in Trenton

February 28, 2011

Joshua Rosenau
Staff Writer

A windy, rainy Saturday was not enough to keep thousands of union boosters from the New Jersey State House steps in Trenton where they assembled in solidarity with Wisconsin’s embattled workers.

“Collective bargaining is a human right, a moral right, an ethical right and an American right,” said Stephanie Bloomingdale, secretary-treasurer of the Wisconsin State American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) in her address to the crowd.

Article quotes three AFTNJ members at http://www.dailytargum.com/news/union-workers-rally-in-trenton-1.2485668

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AFTNJ Stands With Wisconsin Workers

February 26, 2011

Dorian Grumet, URA-AFT.		 AFT New Jersey member, quoted in Star Ledger:
“The governor should be aware he needs to bargain in good faith,” said Michael McGarvey, a professor of art at Stockton College. “We don’t think the budget should be balanced on the backs of public employees.”

TRENTON — There were cheeseheads, signs calling for the recall of Gov. Chris Christie, and chants about solidarity.

Bemoaning what some called a nationwide attack on the middle class, poncho-clad public workers flooded Trenton Friday in a show of support for employees in Wisconsin, where Gov. Scott Walker has called for an end to collective bargaining. The rally, organized by the state AFL-CIO, attracted a crowd of about 3,100, State Police said.

Read full article at http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2011/02/nj_public_workers_rally_at_sta.html

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AFTNJ stands with Wisconsin workers

February 25, 2011

AFTNJ Stands
AFT Montclair
With Wisconsin Workers

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Kean University requires faculty members to document the hours they work

February 20, 2011

UNION TOWNSHIP — In addition to teaching classes, advising students and doing research, Kean University professors have a new task this semester: Filling out time cards.

Last month, the Union Township-based public university began requiring full-time faculty members to submit biweekly forms proving they are working at least 35 hours a week.

Kean officials say the time sheets are needed to document that professors are working full-time hours and are eligible for state health benefits. But some members of the faculty union — who have been feuding with Kean President Dawood Farahi for years — say punching a virtual time clock is an insult.

“President Farahi is turning Kean University into a factory that mass produces college graduates,” said James Castiglione, a professor who serves as president of the Kean Federation of Teachers. “The time sheets are effectively treating faculty not as experts … or scholars, but as 19th-century factory workers.”

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The Union Attitude: CCM’s Becky Hodd on professional union

February 05, 2011
Becky Hodd

Becky Hodd

I love professional unions. When I started teaching in 1971 in a fourth grade classroom in Mechanicsburg, PA,  one of the first people I met was my union faculty representative. My principal had an all female staff which cut down on any dissent, and the faculty meetings were always a burden. He talked; we listened. At the end of the meeting, he acknowledged the faculty rep (FR), and she was to bring up any “issues.”As the year progressed, I would take items to my FR, but she would only bring up ”watered-down” versions. When the principal addressed the items, his response was usually a non-response. When he asked if anyone had anything else, I started to speak up. Soon the union part of the meeting went like this. Principal: “Joan (our FR), any issues? (SIGH!) Okay, Becky, any issues?” Power to the people!

In 1974, I started teaching overseas for the Department of Defense Dependents Schools (DoDDS). These schools are located on military bases around the world. For the next 32 years, I taught at schools in Okinawa and various places in Germany plus two years in a DoDDS school in Jacksonville, NC. No matter where I was, one of the first to welcome me, answer questions about the school and the school system, and to orient me to the culture was always a union representative.
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