Union Membership and the Lecturer Experience
Photo by Vanessa Garcia on Pexels.
As a Unit-3 Lecturer for the CSU, I am part of a union at my campus. This classification affords me the support and advocacy of one of the strongest unions in the state, the California Faculty Association. I chose to join them after my first semester so that I was sure I’d be continuing at my current position.
Unions have been in the news a lot lately. From the United Auto Workers (UAW) successfully negotiating with the Big 3 auto manufacturers (GM, Ford, and Chrysler-owner Stellantis), to food service workers successfully negotiating for living wages, unions are experiencing a bit of a renaissance. I heard on the radio today that public opinion polls show a 70% approval rating for unions. This level of public support has not existed since the 1960s. That is phenomenal!
As we all know, unions have done a lot to improve the working conditions of Americans, and as a lecturer, I am a paying member. For about $10 a month, I help support the efforts of campus representatives to advocate for me.
This advocacy and its outcomes don’t just benefit those in a union. Shawn Fain, the president of the UAW said that non-union jobs get a “bump” when unions win. For example, Toyota recently decided to increase salaries for non-union jobs at all their car manufacturing plants in the USA. They are now on par with unionized jobs at the same plants.
It may be a generational thing (I’m a Gen-Xer), or that it’s now cool to be part of a union, but being part of a union helps me feel like I’m not alone. Being a lecturer can be very lonely. Especially if you did not attend the campus as a student, the level of unfamiliarity can be disorienting.
If you are fortunate enough to have a union on your campus, please join. The stewards do their very best to support us, provide professional development opportunities, and answer our questions. They also are there to clarify issues and make sure we are not being exploited.
The CFA is in the middle of negotiations with the CSUs right now. Last week 95% if the CFA membership authorized our leadership to strike if CSU does not negotiate in good faith. In the next couple of weeks, we will know more about the outcome of those negotiations. In this week’s campus paper, the potential for a union strike was on the front page, above the fold!
Last week, I discussed with my students the possibility of me going out on strike. I was honest with them and said that I didn’t know what the outcome would be. I did promise to keep them updated on things so that we can make it through this experience together.
It has been my experience that students are very supportive. They work hard to develop relationships with their instructors and want the best for us. Students are also worried… not just about us, but about how the outcome of these negotiations will impact them. It will. The unions are working hard to diminish the negative impact and the hope is that the negotiations are successful.
Let me know in the comments your thoughts on unions, union membership, and if you’ve encountered issues with your union not being as supportive as they should be. Sometimes that is the case, so let me know how you’re doing.