Fellow Adjunct/Contingent/NTT Faculty and Graduate Student Workers:
My name is Geoff Johnson, President of the AFT-ACC, or American Federation of Teachers Adjunct-Contingent Faculty Caucus, and I’m asking you to join us in the fight for better adjunct-contingent faculty work conditions.
We are a recognized issues-based caucus within AFT. Our main objectives are to:
1) Advocate for adjunct-contingent faculty within AFT Higher Ed for:
A) Better accounting of which AFT locals represent adjunct-contingent and NTT faculty.
B) Greater overall awareness of adjunct-contingent and NTT faculty working conditions from salary and job security, to access to shared governance, and professional development.
C) Greater overall awareness of the socioeconomic challenges we face, from inadequate healthcare coverage, to financial pressures, to food and housing insecurity.
To this end, the AFTACC has an ongoing project to identify all AFT-affiliated Higher Ed Locals which represent Adjunct-Contingent or NTT faculty, and has given input in the creation of the AFT Contingent Faculty Quality of Work Life survey, the first such AFT nationwide survey of adjunct-contingent faculty since 2013. We also gave input regarding the current Contingent Faculty Qualtiy of Work Life Survey.
2) To create awareness among AFT Activists and locals of:
A) Individual local and state legislative campaigns for improving our working conditions.
B) The particular challenges we face either as individuals, or in particular locals
or in state feds.
C) Current academic trends and the potential impact on adjunct-contingent and NTT faculty, such as corporatization and enrollment decline.
In this regard, the AFTACC frequently posts on its Facebook page adjunct-contingent and NTT pertinent news articles on events happening in places from Alaska and California, to Florida and Maine and places in between.
3) To publicize, promote, and participate in adjunct-contingent and NTT contract campaigns and mobilizations. Thus far, the caucus and some of its individual members have, pushed AFT for funding for local Campus Equity Week Campaigns, created general adjunct mobilization materials, and participated in and promoted of AFT's Annual Contingent Faculty Mobilization.
We additionally have a website to provide greater information and resources regarding adjunct-contingent and NTT faculty. We are also looking into reaching out to adjunct-contingent faculty in other national teachers’ unions such as NEA and SEIU.
4) To advocate to behalf on adjunct-contingent and NTT faculty for:
Pro-rata Pay
Part to Full-Time Conversion
Job Security and Rehire Rights
Unemployment benefits of Adjunct/contingent faculty without or between assignments
Repeal of the WEP Provision for Social Security
Adjunct-Contingent and NTT representation in shared governance
Pay for Ancillary Activities
Becoming a member is easy and it’s free. We are cognizant of the financial hardship many adjuncts face.
To join, simply go to our website at aft-acc.org, click on the “Join” button, and fill out the membership form provided.
Joining the caucus means becoming a member of the AFT-ACC general list-serve, putting you in touch with your fellow adjunct-contingent and NTT faculty from all over the country, and becoming a part of the larger conversation.
Help us help you. Become a member.
In solidarity,
Geoff Johnson
AFT-ACC President