Tag Archives: union

Home, Labor Studies

Adjunct Organizing Gains Momentum

As millions of Americans broke bread this past Thanksgiving, an important labor victory almost fell through the cracks. Last Wednesday, Temple University’s 1,400 adjunct professors voted 609-266 in favor a proposal to join the Temple Association of University Professionals, the American Federation of Teachers’ faculty affiliate at the school.

With this vote, the local union will double in size, and the negotiations for work terms will commence, pending official certification by the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board.

Temple University’s adjuncts are only the latest adjunct faculty cohorts to unionize. Adjuncts at Tufts, Georgetown, America, Northeastern, Seattle have all issued similar votes in the past couple years, while, closer to home, Barnard contingent faculty members voted to unionize this past summer,  and, as of now, adjunct faculty members at the NYU Tandon School of Engineering are moving forward on a union vote as well.

Home, Labor Studies

Padraig O’Donoghue: Reflections on Labor

Padraig
Padraig O’Donoghue & Newborn Daughter, Haviva

By Padraig O’Donogue

I am a passionate member of the PSC and will be part of the (hopefully) packed house at Cooper Union on November 19th when we continue our path to a new contract. I’ve had quite a few really positive experiences with the union that have stuck with me and make me want to fight for the contract that we deserve.

My first interaction with the PSC-CUNY was 14 years ago as a student at Hunter College when the PSC was a significant part of the NYC anti-Iraq war movement. The Union sponsored buses to go down to DC for large national marches calling on the government to reverse its momentum toward war, asking lawmakers to redirect public funds to education: “Books not bombs.”  Remembering the mass protests on the Mall, I can only echo the prophetic intention behind that chant. Now, as a PSC member, and six years into our fight for a new contract, I see that just a small fraction of those funds squandered in war would grant us the contract we deserve.  Continue reading Padraig O’Donoghue: Reflections on Labor →

Faculty Writing, Home, Labor Studies, Murphy News

Stephanie Luce Talks Civil Disobedience, Arrest at PSC Action

All photos via PSC-CUNY.org.

On Wednesday, PSC-CUNY members demonstrated in response to 6 years without a contract at CUNY Central Administrative offices, where about 50 people were arrested. Prof. Stephanie Luce, one of many Murphy Institute community members who participated in the action, and one of four who were arrested, talks about her experience below:

Q. Why did you participate in the CD action?

A. I decided to participate in the civil disobedience action because I want to defend the idea of CUNY: a great public institution that is supported by the city and state. CUNY was created to provide a top-quality education to the people of New York City, and it is also a large employer providing good jobs to tens of thousands of people.110415rally30 Continue reading Stephanie Luce Talks Civil Disobedience, Arrest at PSC Action →

Home, Labor Studies

National Nurses Union Endorses Bernie Sanders for President

It’s officially election season, and will be for some time to come. Some surprises have thrown the traditional players for a loop, including the rising support for Bernie Sanders. Drawing huge crowds at rallies across the country, and even a bit of controversy along the way, Sanders has galvanized his progressive base. And, as of Monday, he has also secured his first national trade union endorsement from the National Nurses union.

From CNN:

“Bernie Sanders has a proven track record of uncompromised activism and advocacy for working people, and a message that resonates with nurses, and, as we have all seen, tens of thousands of people across the country,” NNU Executive Director RoseAnn DeMoro said in a press release announcing the endorsement. “He can talk about our issues as well as we can talk about our issues. We are proud to stand with him in his candidacy for President today.”

The nurses organization officially announced their support at an event with Sanders in Oakland, California. The group, which is 90% women, called the meeting a “Brunch with Bernie.”

“Bernie’s issues align with nurses from top to bottom,” DeMoro said, noting that Sanders earned the groups support because of his positions on trade, minimum wage and expanding Social Security and Medicare.”

Earlier this year, the group conducted an internal poll to decide who to endorse. Charles Idelson, the group’s spokesman, said the Vermont senator won “overwhelming support,” but no percentage was given.

Previously, the American Federation of Teachers endorsed Hillary Clinton. Meanwhile, Sanders has received support, if not outright endorsement — though neither is permitted according to AFL-CIO rules —  from a number of union locals.

Photo by Gage Skidmore via flickr (CC-BY-SA).

ALR Exchange, Home, Labor Studies, Murphy News

ALR Project and China’s Mingde Institute at Collective Labor Disputes Conference

This post was originally featured at alrexchange.org.

China’s Mingde Institute of Labor Relations and CUNY’s Advancing the Field of Labor Relations (ALR) program collaborated for the second time to present a Comparative Collective Labor Disputes Conference between the U.S. and China in Changsha in April 2015. More than 40 Chinese leading scholars, local union officials, governmental arbitrators, and labor attorneys attended the conference. Many active figures in China’s labor relations field participated as speakers and discussants, including professors from Peking University, Wuhan University, Shanghai Business and Finance, Capital University of Business and Economics, China Institute of Industrial Relations, Nanjing University, Sun Yat-san University, and researchers from the local MOHRSS arbitration department from Hunan, Shanghai, Guizhou, etc. Representatives from ILO also commented at the conference.

Representing the U.S. was Diane Frey, Senior Research Consultant at CUNY ALR, who spoke on labor organizing in the U.S., and Richard Fincher, Fellow and Instructor at the Scheinman Institute on Conflict Resolution at Cornell University, who presented on the U.S. arbitration and mediation system.

You can read more (in Chinese) at:

http://www.jttp.cn/a/report/info/2015/0428/6799.html

ALR Exchange, Home, Murphy News

Introducing: ALRexchange.org

Murphy’s Advancing the Field of Labor Relations Program seeks to broaden and strengthen communications and exchanges between China and U.S. universities and unions. 

www.ALRexchange.org is an English-Chinese bilingual website, developed by Murphy’s Advancing the Field of Labor Relations Program to serve as a hub of resources for both academics and practitioners in the field of Labor Relations. More than five hundred searchable bilingual bibliographies, contract languages, training materials, relevant Labor Relations articles and U.S.-China comparative curriculum materials for the study of labor relations have been posted and shared in our website. Find it on our resource page.

The website also includes “Labor in the News”, featuring news from the labor field in the U.S., China, and worldwide on a weekly basis. To further this unique comparative perspective, the team also tweets these updates via Chinese social media, Weibo, to interact with our Chinese audience directly. Continue reading Introducing: ALRexchange.org →