We are on the brink of a historical moment for Northeastern University. The poor working conditions, low pay and job insecurity facing adjunct faculty has become a hot topic on our campus. We have heard about the lack of health benefits, the $2,200 average salaries per course, the failure to provide adequate office space, the semester-to-semester hiring practices, etc. By taking the opportunity to join the Service Employees International Union, many of these injustices could be resolved.
However, in a recent editorial (“Adjuncts Should be Accommodated, Not Unionized,” Jan. 16, p. 4), The News brought up an interesting point, positing that unionization will surely benefit the professors, but harm our interests as students.
The concern for many students is tuition. Evidence from past adjunct unionizations shows that the rise in tuition would not be significantly affected by organizing efforts. American University’s adjuncts organized in 2012. AU’s tuition has since continued to increase at similar rates, at about 6 percent, according to collegecalc.com and collegeboard.com. The unionization of adjuncts had no clear effect on tuition prices.
I can see how this is a common concern among the student body, but in reality, as students we are part of a community. The interests, ideas and experiences of students, professors, administrators, janitors and dining hall workers blend together to form the prestigious institution that we call Northeastern University. We grow together as a community through working and connecting with each other. How can I work with professors to find research opportunities when they do not receive support for their research? How can I stay after class to ask my professor for help on the lesson when her office is a car and she has to rush off in it to teach a class at Boston College? How can we refer to our administration as “high-quality leadership” when they treat adjunct faculty this way? We should use this historic moment as an opportunity strengthen our community, and improve not just our rankings, but more importantly, the way we respect each other.
But how can we solve these problems? The administration has not only ignored these problems in our environment, but has actually created and perpetuated this unjust workplace. Across the nation 75 percent of professors are adjunct faculty, and this number is only rising. How far will we let it rise? Where do we draw the line and make a stand? Too often when the opportunity to make a difference falls at our feet, we refuse to pick it up and take action. These questions raised bring us to what I think could be the defining question of our generation: Will we trust the leaders who caused these problems to solve them, or will we step forward collectively to find common solutions?
If only one adjunct came forward to the administration to ask for better conditions they would be politely ignored. If the adjuncts came forward as a union, it would be impossible to ignore the voices of 1,400 adjuncts (71 percent of Northeastern’s faculty) fighting for better conditions, better education and a better Northeastern community.
As tuition increases, the money going towards our professors and our education falls. The logic simply does not make sense. A victory for our adjuncts is a victory for us as students. Come to the Progressive Student Alliance meetings at 7:15 p.m. every Tuesday in 346 Curry, and join the fight for a better Northeastern, so we can be proud to call ourselves Huskies.
-Sean Hansen is a middler cultural anthropology major and a member of the Progressive Student Alliance.
