PSUFA Members,
BRACE YOURSELVES
This week, PSU will be responding to our proposals and WE NEED YOU THERE!
But first, let’s talk about last week. Friday, July 14th, saw us back at the bargaining table. The session began with PSUFA accepting PSU’s proposals on Bargaining Release and Independent Study rates (see our June 29th bargaining recap for specifics). These were our first Tentative Agreements.
However, our harmony slowly fizzled from there.
It was PSU’s turn at benefits proposals—and, sigh. They did agree to removing the cap on sick leave accrual, but denied a Sick Leave Bank for our unit. (Full-time faculty have one.) They denied any additional funding to support adjunct faculty who are also caregivers, beyond what is available in our Adjunct Faculty Assistance Fund, which means that we are expanding eligibility for that fund without any additional money to dispense. (Full-time faculty have a dedicated caregiver fund of $115,000 in the first year and $175,000 in the second year. Are you seeing a theme here?)
PSU representatives stated that they are “interested” in picking up the 6% PERS contribution for eligible adjuncts. This would be a great win for PERS-eligible adjuncts. No movement was made in relation to the 5% health insurance premium pickup for eligible faculty under the revised HB2611. PSU justified their reluctance to accept our proposal because they were concerned that other part-time employee groups on campus such as staff and graduate employees don’t have access to health insurance and it might be unfair to these groups if PSU picked up 5% of health insurance premiums for adjuncts. PSU’s commitment to equity really shines when it comes to treating all employee groups on campus equally poorly.
Time and time again, PSU has hesitated to make any agreements due to the necessity to see the “entire picture” of what we are asking (a tactic they use to slow bargaining). And so…
AFTER THE LUNCH BREAK CAUCUS, our team laid down the entirety of our proposals. After tinkering with their costing model, we were told by PSU that our ENTIRE PACKAGE OF PROPOSALS (minus Length of Service payments) would add $6 million to the adjunct budget.
Collectively, the PSU team (7 people) sitting across the table cost the university over $1 million dollars a year. PSU adjuncts make up roughly 3% of the university's budget, and teach about 40% of the credit hours. Our proposal, which would make meaningful change to the lives of 1,200 adjuncts, costs in total around $6 million. A $6 million increase to the PSU adjunct budget to approach equal pay for equal work—although we would still not be there—is more than reasonable.
PSU wants us to believe that they don't have the money to make real changes in the lives of adjuncts. But we know it’s simply not true. Every budgetary decision PSU makes is a CHOICE. If PSU denies our proposals, it’s not because they can’t afford it—it’s because THEY DON’T WANT TO.
Adjunct-taught classes pulled in more than $59 million in tuition for the university last year. We are cheap labor for the university and they want to keep us that way.
We say $6 million is not that much of a lift. (As a point of comparison the full-time union received an additional $9.4 million for fiscal year 2024 in their last round of negotiations.)
They lamented that our package of proposals is trying to “ACHIEVE TRANSFORMATIVE CHANGE” and have chided us repeatedly for trying to change the structural conditions in a contract negotiation. YES, WE ARE! We need RADICAL transformation for adjuncts at PSU, because that is what equal-pay-for-equal-work requires and that is what ending the two-tiered system of adjunctification in higher education necessitates.
WE ARE FIGHTING TO WIN FOR ADJUNCTS!
We have spent weeks listening to your testimony; we are acutely aware of your struggles. Let’s break this system of those at the top helping themselves to hefty salaries while paying adjuncts meager wages for their hard work and expertise. We will not stand for this inequity any longer.
When we bargain we want you all alongside us! Come fight with us! This is a call to action! Advocate for better conditions for adjuncts like yourself! Advocate for your rights!
Our next bargaining sessions are Wednesday, July 19th, from 1:00PM–5:00PM and Friday, July 28th, from 12:00PM–5:00PM. Please RSVP and observe as we fight for:
raising the minimum rate
a 10% COLA
health insurance
retirement benefits
no more unpaid work for creating course content
caregiving benefits
pay for course conversion
access to meaningful sick leave
and so much more!
Check out our full proposal here for details that will effectively change your life here at PSU: