In the latest milestone for the Faculty Forward movement, on February 16, non-tenure-eligible faculty at Vanderbilt University in Nashville filed a petition with the NLRB to unite with SEIU Local 205. As Nashville Public Radio reports, this would be the first faculty union at a private university in Tennessee, and is part of a movement to raise standards and quality in higher education which has grown rapidly across the nation.
“I believe forming a union is the only way to guarantee fairness and transparency for the ever-growing number of non-tenure eligible faculty at Vanderbilt,” said Amy Cooter, Senior Lecturer of Sociology. “By coming together, we can have a voice on issues that affect us all.”
The filing comes at a moment when people across the country—faculty, and thousands of others who work in higher education —are speaking out for good jobs, the opportunity for a better life for their families, and a real voice in our economy and democracy. On March 1, thousands of faculty, graduate student employees and other working people will come together and take action to make real change in our higher education system.
