Contact: Jeff Cech - jcech@usw.org; 412-339-4843
PITTSBURGH – The United Steelworkers (USW) today said that members of its Adjunct Faculty Association at Robert Morris University have filed a petition for an election with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). A majority of Robert Morris adjunct faculty have signed union cards with the Adjunct Faculty Association.
Adjunct faculty members want a more transparent, fair and orderly system for assigning courses so that faculty know what they will be teaching soon enough to properly organize lessons and for students know who will be teaching the courses soon enough to choose the faculty they prefer. Adjunct instructors are now assigned courses with as little as a day or two to prepare before the classes begin.
Adjunct faculty also aim to address their low pay. Currently, an adjunct faculty member with a Master’s degree is paid $2,100 for a 3-credit course and can teach a maximum of three courses per semester, resulting in a maximum yearly salary of $12,600. Due to the low pay, most adjunct faculty members rely on multiple jobs to make ends meet, which takes time away from their students and limits their ability to keep up to date in their fields. The university spends less than 2% of its revenue on adjunct faculty pay and less than half (46%) on all combined instructional costs.
USW International President Leo W. Gerard said the union looks forward to the challenge of negotiating with RMU for these instructors.
“We welcome the opportunity to help workers looking for fairness on the job no matter where they work,” Gerard said. “We Steelworkers are still working on factory floors, but now we’re also staffing hospitals, practicing law and teaching college students as adjunct faculty. The diversity of our membership undoubtedly continues to make us stronger.”
The Adjunct Faculty Association is organizing faculty in Pittsburgh and elsewhere to unify and empower the people who do the work of higher education. The AFA is affiliated with the United Steelworkers, whose 850,000 members include men and women working in many different industries, including metals, paper and forestry, rubber, manufacturing, energy, health care, pharmacies and pharmaceuticals, civil service, finance, law, transportation and education.
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