NYU Adjunct Contract Breaks New Ground
(NEW YORK) ACT-UAW Local 7902 representing the adjunct faculty at NYU proudly announces the ratification of a second union contract by its members. A tentative agreement between the University and the Union was reached on March 30 after months of negotiations. The new agreement goes into effect for Fall 2010 and will expire August 31, 2016.
The contract includes five years of raises, with an increase of 6.7% in the upcoming academic year for the lowest paid adjunct faculty; summer teaching will now be acknowledged for purposes of job security, annuity, and health insurance; greater university contributions for family health coverage for adjuncts teaching the equivalent of four classes a year; improved job security protections for adjunct teaching in the summer; an increase in the retirement plan contributions by the university in the next-to-last year of the contract; and voluntary contributions to the union's political action fund via automatic check-off.
ACT-UAW Local 7902 was founded in 2002 and represents over 4,000 adjunct and part-time faculty at NYU and The New School.
“Now NYU adjunct will have summer teaching count towards their health insurance, retirement benefits, and job security rights,” says Local Union President Joel Schlemowitz, “Something we’ve wanted to achieve for the sake of fairness since people are often teaching the same classes in the summer and now will have the same benefits.”
According to Chris Rzonca, the NYU Unit Chair of ACT-UAW Local 7902, “We were able to bargain a fair and just contract that is representative of our commitment to the University as faculty. The ACT-UAW members showed the same commitment to the bargaining process as they do to their teaching. The members delivered a strike authorization which gave us the strength and leverage we needed. The support of the members throughout provided the bargaining committee with the ability to prevail.”
“Our entire membership is very pleased that these negotiations have once again broken new ground,” said Julie Kushner, director of UAW Region 9A. “Through collective bargaining the adjunct faculty at NYU continue to build, acquiring the recognition so well-deserved as dedicated and talented teachers. This contract has delivered progression in wages over the next five years, improved the University's commitment to family health insurance, increased the annuity and extends the rights and benefits for adjuncts teaching in the summer. This is what organizing and building a union is about.”
The compete Memorandum of Agreement can be found at www.actuaw.org
FOR INTERVIEWS CONTACT:
Joel Schlemowitz, President, ACT-UAW Local 7902
917-583-5187, president@actuaw.org
Chris Rzonca, the NYU Unit Chair, ACT-UAW Local 7902
203-444-6457, nyu@actuaw.org
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