Approximately two-thirds of all faculty in the North Orange County
Community College District are part-time instructors, many of whom make about one-third of what full-time faculty make class-for-class.
Part-time faculty have no health benefits, even after, in some cases
working for the district for twenty years. North Orange County is one of
the last districts in the 71-district California Community College system
where part-time instructors have no representation at all.Adjunct faculty from all three district schools, Fullerton College,
Cypress College and the School of Continuing Education, have now created their own grassroots organization, Adjunct Faculty United, which has affiliated with California Federation of Teachers, part of the American
Federation of Teachers. CFT is in the forefront of the statewide fight
for part-timers' rights and represents more California community college
instructors than any other union.Here is what part-time faculty want:
EQUAL PAY FOR EQUAL WORK Adjunct instructors in NOCCCD believe they should be paid the same as full-time instructors for the same work. At the present time, part-time faculty are not only often paid two-thirds less, but receive no pay at all for lesson prep, grading papers,
and out-of-class student meetings. These activities are essentially
"volunteer" donations by adjunct faculty to the school district.HEALTH BENEFITS PAID FOR BY THE DISTRICT Adjunct instructors believe they deserve medical benefits. Part-timer groups in community colleges statewide have successfully negotiated health benefits paid for by the district. The state legislature declared in 1997 that all California colleges should provide medical benefits for their part-time faculty, and have even provided matching funds of up to 50% in some cases. NOCCCD provides benefits for part-time classified support staff, but pays no benefits for adjunct instructors.
SENIORITY / REHIRE RIGHTS Part-timers believe that experienced adjunct faculty should receive preferences in rehiring. Right now, there are adjunct instructors who have taught for NOCCCD for 10, 20, 30 years or more, yet still are officially designated as "temporary" employees, have
no status and no reasonable expectation of reemployment.PAID OFFICE HOURS Part-time faculty believe that students deserve full access to their teachers, and adjunct faculty holding office hours should be paid. Right now, part-time instructors do not get paid for office
hours, and many students have no contact with their instructors outside
of class. According to state law, when the school district negotiates
paid office hours, the state will reimburse the district for up to 50% of
the costs for part-timers who teach at least a 40% load.Part-time instructors often are running from school to school to string
together enough classes to make ends meet, so community volunteers to
help in this effort are most welcome. The part-timer organization,
Adjunct Faculty United, is located at
124 W. Wilshire Avenue, Fullerton
Phone: 714/526-7220
email: [email protected]
FROM VICTIMS TO VICTORS:
THE STORY OF ADJUNCT FACULTY UNITEDby Lori Phelps, Psy.D. Adjunct Senator, Cypress College Adjunct Faculty United, Co-Chair, Interim Executive Board I’d like to request a few minutes of your time to tell you the story of Adjunct Faculty United. I was there at the very beginning and have watched this movement grow from very humble beginnings, so I can tell you firsthand that ours is a story of honor and courage unparalleled. This is the story of a grass roots effort spearheaded by oppressed and victimized people who pulled all of their strength together to create a solution for themselves—a solution which drew the support and financial backing of one of the most powerful unions in the country.
In less than a year, we have moved from being a small band of rebels--sick and tired of being used, abused and ignored--to a substantial, organized, well funded, powerfully backed force of dedicated, well trained, focused and committed professionals. We made that move to power with pure grit and determination, harnessing from within ourselves a strength and unity we did not know we possessed until we joined together.
There were only 12 of us who met in a friend’s house in Fullerton last February. It was our third and largest meeting. Not one of us could have foreseen, that night, how far we would come in only eight short months. Our success has been beyond our wildest dreams, though it has not been without tremendous sacrifice.
We made a momentous decision that night in Fullerton. We decided to call ourselves “Adjunct Faculty United” and voted to affiliate our ranks with the American Federation of Teachers/California Federation of Teachers, the union which represents the majority of part-time faculty in the state of California. AFT/CFT has the finest negotiators and leaders, and they have powerful political clout at local, state, and national levels. When we asked them to help us, they did not hesitate, even when others much closer to our situation had flatly refused us. AFT/CFT offered to support us philosophically and financially, and they kept that promise. Today, because of that unfailing support from AFT/CFT, Adjunct Faculty United is a force to be reckoned with. Our office, at 124 W. Wilshire Ave., in Fullerton, is in the heart of the downtown area, only a mile away from the NOCCCD main offices.
Our executive board is comprised of some of our district’s best professional educators and finest minds—all from the ranks of part-timers at Fullerton, Cypress and the School of Continuing Education. Many of us have some union background, but not all. Each person has brought his or her own particular talent and experience to our effort. And our numbers continue to grow every day. As our power base increases, AFT/CFT is continuing to train and guide us in the fine art of organizing and negotiating, and they will be here when we get to the business of collective bargaining.
What Adjunct Faculty United offers the part-time faculty in the NOCCCD is a united front and a singular vision—that of improving the quality of professional life for part-time faculty. We are part-time faculty members who know what it is like to teach under the most intolerable conditions, and survive. No other organization can offer us that kind of experience or understanding. No other organization offers us the opportunity to control our own destinies, to have our own board, to know which issues are, for us, of the utmost urgency—things like equal pay for equal work, health benefits, paid office hours, seniority/rehire rights. No other organization can claim to have the backing of AFT/CFT, the only union committed to equity for part-time college instructors in a way no other is.
There is a bit of irony in our story. Many of us are politically conservative, and have never been much in favor of unions. In fact, some of the original 12 individuals who met on that fateful night last February were opposed to unions in the past or, at the very least, didn’t like them at all. But as we talked, and as we educated ourselves about the various ways we might better our working conditions and reclaim our dignity as valuable professional educators, it became clear to us all that the only solution was to organize and affiliate with AFT/CFT. It was not a decision we made lightly, nor without a lot of heated discussion and profound self-reflection. But it was the right decision.
Adjunct Faculty United is the only choice for part-time faculty in the NOCCCD, because we are the only ones who really know what it is like to be in our position. We are extremely proud of what we have built, and of where we are going. Adjunct Faculty United has already changed everything about our district, from the way our full-time colleagues and administrators see us, to the way we now see ourselves. We are well on our way to achieving the equity and respect we so richly deserve. Adjunct Faculty United is our union. We did it together: PART-TIMERS WORKING FOR PART-TIMERS. Nothing will ever be the same for us again. Thank God.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE. . .Part-Time College Instructors Organize for Equal Pay, Benefits
organization of adjunct faculty in the North Orange County Community
College District, filed signed proof with the California State Public
Employee Relations Board that a majority of part-time instructors at
Fullerton College, Cypress College and the School of Continuing Education wish Adjunct Faculty United CFT/AFT to represent them.Adjunct Faculty United is attempting to secure better pay, health
benefits, seniority/rehire rights and office hour pay for part-time
faculty. Two-thirds of all community college teachers are part-timers
who receive no health benefits and are paid one-third to one-half of what
full-time instructors are paid class-for-class. Furthermore, adjunct
faculty are not paid at all for class prep time, grading papers and
out-of-class meetings with students.Filing with PERB is the first step toward gaining recognition by the
school district to negotiate wages, hours and working conditions for
part-time faculty. Although full-time faculty and classified employees
in the North Orange County School District are represented by unions, no one has ever represented the interests of part-time instructors, many of
whom have taught for the district for over twenty years in a temporary
status with few rights and the only benefit being the right to
unemployment insurance at the end of each semester.Although the North Orange County Community College District is mandated to have at least 75% of all classes taught by full-time instructors, the actual figure is closer to 60%. Part-time instructors have the same
academic credentials as regular faculty, and have the same responsibilities in the classroom, but are paid so little that some adjuncts end up going on welfare in a financial or medical crisis. Due to the lack of openings for full-time teachers, many part-time teachers (known as "freeway flyers")try to cobble together a full-time living by teaching part-time at several community college districts. The frantic pace, lack of stability or low income cause large numbers of adjunct faculty to retire from teaching each year.Linda Cushing, President of Adjunct Faculty United's Interim Executive
Committee, says: "We intend to gain medical benefits and equal pay for
equal work for part time instructors when we bargain with the district.
The inadequate pay and working conditions for two-thirds of the community college faculty are a secret that few people in the general public have known. I believe that basic fairness and human diginty are at stake here. It is time to begin to do what's right."For more information, contact:
Linda Cushing
Adjunct Faculty United
124 W. Wilshire Avenue
Fullerton, CA 92831
714/526-7220
[email protected]
