Politics

According to the 2015-15 Annual Report on the Economic Status of the Profession, released by the American Association of University Professors, part-time adjunct instructors now comprise over forty percent of all faculty appointments in the US (and this does not include graduate student employees or full time non-tenure track faculty, which takes the percentage up to just over 70). Due to their part-time status, most of these adjuncts are not eligible for the kinds of benefits available to their full time colleagues. In terms of pay, studies show that part-time non-tenure track faculty earn between 22 and 40 percent less,…

All of the doubts about how serious Donald Trump was about his populist appeals to U.S. workers have been confirmed by the selection of Andrew Puzder to be Secretary of Labor. Puzder is a prime example of the Trump administration’s pattern of appointing people directly opposed to the missions of their departments to cabinet positions. Puzder, the CEO of CKE Restaurants, which owns the Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s fast food chains, has been one of the most vocal opponents of workers’ rights throughout the Obama Administration. The avid fan of Ayn Rand has opposed paid sick leave requirements, the Affordable…

Some of you may be asking yourself, “What can I, as a faculty member and union member, do now that everything is fucked?” The new presidential administration promises an all-out assault on higher education, public spending, and labor. We are headed into perilous times for sure, but there is a lot that we can do here in Oregon. As a bargaining unit representing 1800 people, UA is positioned to play an important role in the politics of this state. Together with our allies at other campuses and in other unions, there is an extraordinary amount we can accomplish. The State…

When Michiganders hear the name DeVos, a shiver runs down our collective spine. The DeVos family, including heir to the Amway fortune Dick DeVos and his wife Betsy, current nominee to the Secretary of Education position in Trump’s cabinet, have long been notorious in the Mitten State for using their money (and there’s a lot of it) to put pressure on Michigan politicians. The DeVoses and their money were behind Michigan’s “Right to Work” laws pushed through in December 2012. Described by Mother Jones in a 2014 expose as one of the “founding families of the modern conservative movement,” and…