Faculty Members at Howard University Threaten to Strike Over Working Conditions and Pay
“They have left us no choice but to strike because of their continued bad-faith bargaining”
During the pandemic, the federal government handed out tons of cash to colleges and universities, including HBCUs? Where did the money go?
National Public Radio reports:
Howard University faculty are threatening to strike over working conditions and wages
Hundreds of faculty members at Howard University in Washington, D.C., say they are threatening to go on strike next week over complaints of unfair working conditions.
During a demonstration held on campus Wednesday, several university faculty members, students and alumni leaders rallied in support of the school’s faculty as they argue what is low pay for non-tenured, full-time teaching faculty and adjunct professors.
Some faculty members say if an agreement is not reached with the university by Friday, they will execute a strike starting next week.
Currently, there are 150 non-tenure-track, full-time teaching faculty and more than 200 adjunct professors on Howard’s campus — all of whom are represented by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 500, which shared these employment figures.
“The University leadership has made clear that a better teaching environment and better learning environment is unimportant to them,” said Contingent Faculty leader and Howard alumnus Cyrus Hampton, according to SEIU.
Hampton teaches full-time in the university’s English department.
“They have left us no choice but to strike because of their continued bad-faith bargaining,” Hampton added.
According to SEIU, Howard’s contingent faculty members are teaching “about 1,000 courses” this semester alone on campus. The negotiations between faculty members and campus administration, the union said, have been ongoing for the last three years.
“The contingent faculty are important to student learning, their demands are just, they are not alone because students, alumni and tenured faculty stand with them, and they will win,” Marcus Alfred, associate professor in physics and the president of Howard’s Faculty Senate Executive Council, said to SEIU.
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Comments
Oh noes! Whatever would we do without a 2022 graduating class well-versed in styrofoam, racism, and hate?
Doo dey pronounce it “stereofoam”?
Tell all the STEM professors that any liberal arts profs that walk will be fired and not replaced, and the cost savings will be used to improve the salaries and facilities of the STEM departments. See what happens.
Most colleges treat their non-tenure-track and adjunct instructors like crap. It’s inexcusable, and these NTT faculty members may actually have a legitimate complaint.
I suspect that the pandemic money went to hire more administrators and to give them all salary increases. The NTT faculty probably got nothing.
This comes just months after a student “strike” regarding the condition of the dorms.