On Thursday, the Durham City Council passed a resolution of support of Duke non-tenure track faculty, endorsing the rights of faculty to improve their working conditions and to have a collective voice on campus without interference from their employers. Duke non-regular rank faculty are in the process of voting in a union election with SEIU, with a final ballot count occurring on March 18, 2016.
The resolution received unanimous support from members of the City Council and the Mayor Bill Bell.
The resolution is just another way students, full-time professors, community leaders and elected officials are coming together to support Duke faculty as they help build a nationwide movement to improve standards for the profession by forming unions.
Forty percent of Duke faculty lack access to tenure, reducing their job security and their ability to invest in a long-term future in Durham, according to the release. This follows a nation-wide trend, as universities continue to rely more on more on the instruction and guidance of non-tenure-track faculty.
“We’re honored to have so much support from the larger Durham community,” said M.J. Sharp, an instructor documentary studies at Duke. “This proves what we all already know – that improving the working conditions of faculty is in the public interest.”
Read more the full resolution here.
Share the Facebook post here.
Duke Teaching First also made a support video that you can share.
