MEDIA ADVISORY***
Iowa City, IA – On Wednesday evening, non-tenure track faculty organizing at the University of Iowa will host a teach-in, where experts from across the country will discuss challenges facing educators and their impact on colleges and universities locally and nationally. Speakers will share their experiences, successes and the impact of their efforts to organize for change on their campuses.
WHAT: University of Iowa Non-Tenure Track Faculty Organizing Committee Teach-In
WHEN: November 28, 2018 at 5:00 pm
WHERE: Public Space One, 120 N Dubuque St, Iowa City
WHO: University of Iowa CLAS Non-Tenure Track Faculty and speakers including: SEIU Local 199 President and former Democratic candidate for Iowa Governor Cathy Glasson, President of the California Faculty Association Lil Taiz and Duke Graduate Student Union representative Jessica Estlund Issacharoff, etc.
BACKGROUND
Despite a controversial state law passed in 2017 limiting the ability of public sector workers to bargain collectively, non-tenure track faculty have taken to the streets to ensure their collective demands for change are met. Their campaign joins the movement of direct action led by teachers in West Virginia, Oklahoma, and Arizona, and has been noted by national media for its innovative strategy in the face of attacks on workers’ rights. Faculty at UIowa also follow other non-tenure track faculty at University of Chicago and Loyola University Chicago, who have recently ratified new union contracts with pay increases of up to 51 percent and more secure and transparent appointments.
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