NYU Adjunct Faculty Vote To Unionize -- But Which Union? Runoff Election Scheduled for Adjuncts to Select either AFT or UAW

6/6/2002

From: Jamie Horwitz of AFT, 800-238-1133 ext. 4447, e-mail: jhorwitz@aft.org or Trip McCrossin, 646-602-1494, 516-456-5705 (cell)

NEW YORK, June 6 -- The American Federation of Teachers and the United Auto Workers will compete in a runoff election to determine which union will represent nearly 3,000 adjuncts at New York University. The results of a mail ballot were announced today by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). An unofficial tally showed that 1,766 adjuncts voted out of 2,700 eligible, with 552 votes for AFT, 743 for UAW, and 294 for no representation; 89 challenged ballots were not counted, and 88 ballots were disqualified.

Federal labor law requires a union to reach a simple majority (50 percent of those voting plus one vote) to win on the first ballot. Because neither union achieved that majority, a runoff between the two unions will be scheduled on a yet-to-be-determined date by the NLRB.

AFT's lead organizer at NYU, Trip McCrossin, expressed confidence that AFT would come out ahead in the runoff election. "Our research shows that the more that adjuncts learn about the two unions, the more likely they are to vote for AFT," said McCrossin. Nationwide, AFT represents 125,000 college and university faculty including 50,000 adjuncts; the auto workers union does not represent any part-time or full-time college faculty.

Seventy percent of NYU's faculty are classified as adjunct instructors; most working for $3,000 per course, and without paid health care, a subsidized pension or other benefits. Adjuncts are not paid for office hours or provided with telephones, e-mail accounts or office spaces to prepare course work and meet with students.

Allen Harper, an adjunct instructor who teaches in NYU's School of Continuing and Professional Studies, said he strongly supports AFT because "AFT has the resources, capability and experience that NYU adjuncts require. AFT is not just talking about bread-and-butter issues but about important academic and professional issues as well," said Harper, who, like many adjuncts, also teaches at other nearby universities. "I've seen firsthand what AFT has done for adjuncts at the City University of New York (CUNY). When I'm at CUNY, I'm treated with respect and I'm handed keys to a faculty office. NYU gives me a street address and a room number - and that's it," he said.

Lynn Somers, who teaches in the School of Education at NYU, said she likes AFT because education is at the core of the union's mission. "AFT is the most intelligent choice for NYU's adjuncts because AFT specializes in education," said Sommers.

Nationwide, adjuncts and other college and university instructors have been joining AFT in record numbers. Earlier today, the AFT announced an agreement between the University of Illinois and the Graduate Employees Organization/AFT on the composition of a 2,500-graduate employee unit that will hold a collective bargaining election in the next school year.

In the past two years, AFT has won victories or affiliated faculty and staff at the University of Vermont, Temple University (PA), Michigan State University, Rock Valley College (IL), the Vermont State Colleges, University of New Mexico, Florida Community College in Jacksonville, Orange Community College (NY), Palmer College of Chiropractic-West (CA), Richland Community College (OH), Citrus Community College (CA), Alan Hancock College (CA), San Jose Evergreen Community College (CA), Cascadia Community College (WA) and Palomar Community College (CA).

In addition to NYU, AFT has either filed for election or has organizing campaigns underway at Penn State University, the University of Pennsylvania, University of Maryland, University of Illinois-Chicago, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, University of Michigan, Cerritos Community College (CA), College of the Canyons (CA) and the University of Alaska system.

The AFT represents more than 1.2 million higher education faculty and staff, pre-K through 12th-grade teachers, paraprofessionals and other school support employees, nurses and other healthcare workers, and state and local government employees.