Dear colleague,
Next week, our PTL colleagues will hold their second annual #RutgersAdjunctsSpeak Week of Action to draw attention to the awful conditions they face as “gig” faculty members—and their demands for equal pay for equal work, job security, and access to health insurance. We urge you to support Speak Week and join your adjunct colleagues in communicating with students about these issues.
Some 2,700 adjunct faculty teach 30 percent of the undergraduate courses at Rutgers; they are indispensable to our university’s academic mission. Yet they aren’t paid a livable wage for their work, they don’t know from semester to semester whether they will be teaching their regular classes, and—shamefully—the administration doesn’t allow them access to our health insurance. When valued members of our university community can be treated with disrespect and disregard, we all suffer.
Our sibling Rutgers Adjunct Faculty Union (PTLFC) is asking us to support Speak Week:
- Ask your students to sign a petition calling on the administration to meet adjunct demands to be treated equitably and with respect.
- Share this slide deck in class or on Canvas, so students can learn more about the conditions adjuncts face. Take five minutes to discuss these issues in class.
- Talk to your PTL colleagues and ask them whether they are participating in Speak Week—and how you can support them.
- Take a selfie wearing one of our I♥️RUnions t-shirts or in front of the adjunct union Zoom background (click here to download it) and send it to mearner@rutgersaaup.org—or post it on Twitter or Instagram and tag @ruaaup_ptl
If you’d like to know about Speak Week or the demands our sibling union is putting forward, you can attend a Zoom training session this afternoon at 2 p.m. Click here and fill out this form to get the link.
Our union is working closely with the adjunct faculty union to fight together for the Rutgers our students and all of us deserve. Let’s put our unity into action by supporting Speak Week.
In solidarity,
Becky and Todd
Rebecca Givan, President, Rutgers AAUP-AFT
Todd Wolfson, General Vice President, Rutgers AAUP-AFT
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