In a landslide vote, part-time adjunct faculty members in the Maine Community College System have formed a union with the Maine State Employees Association, Local 1989 of SEIU.
Adjunct Faculty members of the Maine Community College System & others await for the election results on May 3 at the Maine Labor Relations Board.
"The success of any university lies on the backs of the adjunct faculty. If you don't have ownership of what you do, you can't take ownership of its success. You need adjunct faculty to be a part of the team" said Pauli Caruncho, adjunct professor at Washington County Community College.
Their vote by a margin of 264-96 to form a union comes as student enrollment in the Maine Community College System has reached record levels. So many Mainers, both fresh out of high school and more experienced Mainers seeking to further their education and strengthen their jobs skills, have applied for enrollment that some were denied admission this academic year.
Part-time adjunct faculty members teach 60 percent of the classes in the Maine Community College System, making them the largest workforce in the system. But turnover among adjuncts remains high because of low pay, inadequate benefits and no path to career advancement. Adjuncts said they formed a union because they want to be involved in the discussion of how to best ensure a quality education for all students and continue to attract and retain quality educators.
"We simply want what is in the best interest of our students," said Mark Dion, adjunct professor at Southern Maine Community College. "We need to be treated as equals with the same support and resources full-time faculty enjoy."
Over 800 adjunct faculty will now join other Maine Community College System workers who are represented by MSEA-SEIU Local 1989. The union represents both the Supervisory and Support Staff workers in the community college system who have already won significant improvements as members of MSEA-SEIU. These benefits include affordable healthcare, sick time and a career ladder for part-time staff seeking full-time employment
MSEA-SEIU Local 1989 is a union of more than 15,000 public and private sector workers throughout Maine.
