Unfortunately, I think too many people are making this an issue of unionization, and the anti-union climate today is perhaps obscuring the bigger issue. Union or no, contingent faculty should not be abused. If a union is the only way to get fair treatment, a union it must be.
Ken Gormley claims that Duquesne University pays its adjuncts more than many other Pittsburgh area colleges and universities, and from my experience, that is true. But the argument that some colleges treat their adjuncts well sounds vaguely like the claim that some slave owners didn't beat their slaves. Nice to know, but it doesn't make owning slaves all right. Paying more than other universities is nice, but it still resulted in abject poverty for Professor Vojtko.
I wouldn't say we are slaves. I am free to choose another career. But I would say we are indentured servants...except we are never able to leave our position, no matter how hard we work.
ReplyDeleteSaw this on Facebook. Yes, it's an extreme comparison. But really - the same system that encourages us to get yet another advanced degree feels free to treat us like . . . whatever? And what other career would we choose - especially in this economy? I guess adjuncts are slightly better of than Walmart greeters?
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