Adjunct Instructors Plan March Today at Temple

Non-tenured faculty members are trying to unionize on campus.

Adjunct faculty members from colleges and universities around the city plan to march today on Temple University campus, where adjunct instructors are attempting to unionize.

The adjuncts — who teach classes, but who aren’t on the tenure track that offers job protections and the likelihood of continued employment — want to collectively bargain pay and benefits with the university.

NewsWorks reports:

The United Academics of Philadelphia (UAP), a citywide umbrella group representing 15,000 adjuncts from the region’s colleges and universities, is sponsoring the event.

The local affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) is holding a march and vigil on Temple University’s campus at 11 a.m. Marchers will carry a 60-foot banner during the march to represent Temple’s estimated 1,300 adjuncts.

“Adjuncts who do the bulk of the teaching need to have a voice, right? People need to recognize that we carry a lot of the load,” said Temple adjunct Wende Marshall. “We’re treated completely disrespectfully, paid very low wages, have no job security or benefits.”

University officials say an adjunct union will add bureaucracy and significant costs to the annual operating budget. The adjuncts are expected to vote on union representation in the spring.