Activism

By Jennifer Berkshire, Newsletter Editor

FALL 13

Adjunct faculty members at Tufts University recently voted to unionize, becoming part of Adjunct Action, a new adjunct organizing initiative backed by SEIU. The Tufts faculty are part of a growing adjunct uprising around the country and right here in the Boston area. Adjuncts say that unionizing represents their best hope of improving wages, benefits and working conditions.

By Dan Clawson, Department of Sociology, UMass Amherst

FALL 13

An effort is underway to dramatically change the MTA by electing a new president and supporting new policies.  The candidate leading this effort is Barbara Madeloni, a faculty member at UMass Amherst. Barbara is an impressive figure, and she is part of a larger movement, Educators for a Democratic Union, that includes K-12 teachers across the state.

Interview with Gillian Mason, conducted by Jennifer Berkshire, newsletter editor

FALL 13

Tell us about Scholars for Social Justice—what does the group do?

Scholars for Social Justice is a group of academics who are invested in social justice and are interested in fighting corporatization both inside and outside of the university. We’ve currently got just over 300 members and they come from all over the state from Amherst to Boston. We try to amplify their voices and connect them to opportunities for activism on issues that matter most to them.

By John Hess, English

FALL 13

SPRING 13

Dear Colleagues:

Welcome to the 8th issue of Union News.  We’re covering some interesting and important stories: the Governor’s higher education budget and the recent Advocacy Day at the statehouse, the new 2:2 teaching schedule, proposed changes to retiree health insurance, the importance of the family leave policy for both tenure-track and non-tenure-track faculty, a teachers strike in Haiti, and more.