Adjunct faculty at Santa Fe College are itching to become the seventh group in Florida to form their union with FPSU Faculty Forward. As the administration continues to use the legal system to delay their vote, adjunct faculty are speaking out and demanding accountability from the administration to respect their right to vote. Dr. Glynn Hayes, an adjunct professor of science at Santa Fe, recently placed an op-ed in the Gainesville Sun outlining why adjuncts need a union.
“The majority cannot spend critical time with students after class due to other working commitments to make ends meet. Many struggle to pay student debt incurred while earning the degree needed for teaching. It is inconceivable that the higher education system is based on workers who live and work in such precarious conditions,” says Hayes in the op-ed. “These conditions, and the supporting policies, are unsustainable. It is why adjuncts see their requests for improved working conditions as an effort to partner with the Santa Fe administration in building the college’s future.”
“Adjuncts share their knowledge, wisdom and time to contribute to students’ learning experiences, and to the value of the institution as a whole. This is in accordance with the college’s mission. The efforts by legislators and administrations to build a future on the backs of an under-compensated workforce only serves to undermine this mission.”
Today, adjuncts along with students and community groups are holding a rally in support of their right to vote for their union outside of a Santa Fe College board of trustees meeting. Adjuncts at Santa Fe College filed for a union back in December, joining their colleagues throughout the state by coming together to improve wages, job security and access to quality education by organizing for change across Florida’s higher education system.
- Read the entire op-ed in the Gainesville Sun and watch a preview of the rally on ABC 20.
