Adjunct faculty at Lake-Sumter State College voted to form their union with SEIU Faculty Forward. The results of this election comes one month after adjuncts at Miami Dade College voted to form their union at the biggest college in the country.
“Today, we have taken an important step towards achieving fairness at Lake-Sumter State College,” said Joseph Silver, an adjunct professor who teaches biological sciences at Lake-Sumter State College. “Adjuncts teach the majority of classes at Lake-Sumter, yet many of us can’t cover the basics. It’s time for us to come together and ensure that adjunct faculty can earn a living, while providing students a great education.”
While a recent report, Florida Colleges in Crisis, found that a typical adjunct professor working in a Florida public college earns just over $1,900 per course and just $17,000 a year, adjunct faculty at Lake-Sumter State College earn less, with professors earning 12% below the state median. This makes them some of the poorest paid adjunct professors in the state, despite the fact that the majority of faculty are adjunct professors.
“We congratulate our adjunct colleagues for winning their union election and look forward to working together to make Lake-Sumter a better institution for our wonderful students,” said Debby Hicks, a full-time professor at Lake-Sumter State College. “All faculty members, whether adjuncts or full-time, deserve to have direct representation to address the issues that matter most: making sure our students get the best education possible.”
With this breakthrough, Lake-Sumter State College faculty join their colleagues at Hillsborough Community College, Broward College, University of South Florida, Seminole State College and Miami Dade College who have already formed their unions with SEIU Faculty Forward in Florida.
