Faculty In Focus: The Union Difference Meant Job Security

By Libby Smigel, MA, MFA, PhD
Department of Theatre and Dance

I was one of the first to support the effort at GWU to organize a union for part-timers when first approached about the union by Prof. Kip Lornell of the Music Dept. back in the spring of 2004.  I had been a member of the University of Toronto’s union for graduate teaching assistants back in the 1980s.  I was astonished, upon my return to Washington, 15 years and two terminal degrees later, to be offered less per course for more poorly defined workloads.

What I hadn’t expected was that I would be among the first to need some union support – in this case, to ensure that my course load was renewed.  My department (Theatre/Dance) had been given one full-time position to replace two people who were scheduled to be on sabbatical.  One of my sections of a general-education course was tapped to be included among the teaching responsibilities for this temporary full-timer.

Now, don’t get me wrong.  I fully support the creation of full-time temporary positions with benefits when full-time faculty take a year off.  But I happened to know the person slated to fill the position, as he had been a candidate for the MFA degree during my stint on grad faculty at a neighboring university.  I knew well his strengths, which are considerable in choreography and dance technique.  But to teach a gen-ed course for non-dancers?  Not a good fit.

Before the union, I would have had no recourse.  Under the contract that we part-timers approved last December, however, I qualified for renewal consideration.  Also I believed that, if “my” course were to be assigned to someone else, I should be given due consideration for a different course as I have experience teaching many other courses offered by the department – this is another provision under our new contract. 

The ending of this story is a happy one.  Both of my courses were reassigned to me.  I believe also that the incoming faculty replacement has a better fit for his talents, and I hope he’ll concur when we see each other this fall.

There are some lessons and reflections that I’d like to share with other part-timers:

First, the contract protects our collegial departmental interactions.  It’s terrific to let SEIU Local 500 handle sensitive interactions as a simple professional contractual interpretation.  No matter how much we appreciate and enjoy our full-time faculty colleagues (and I do!), we must realize that sometimes they are put in a position that doesn’t protect our considerable experience and expertise.

In my case, very few dance academics in the Washington area have teaching and scholarly experience that approximates my own.  Without the contract, though, even my success in teaching this very course since 2003 would have had no weight in the hiring process.  Ultimately, challenging my teaching assignments needed to involve communications between our union and the outside legal counsel that GWU had retained during our contract negotiations, as well as a dean or two.

Second, we need to know our contract and act promptly!  If you have any question at all about the protections you have under the contract, contact SEIU Local 500 by phone (301) 740-7100 and you’ll immediately be assigned to one of three reps.  If not at his/her desk, you’ll get a call back or an email in 24 hours.  There have been some cases where mistaken notions about the contract provisions have been communicated by deans or chairs.

Third, I do hope that part-timers will share their experiences under the contract, problems as well as successes.  We’re so lucky, especially in this time of economic uncertainty, to have won employment protections and a raise for part-timers.  But we’ll be back at the bargaining table all too soon, and the next negotiating team needs to know how the contract has worked for us.  Email your thoughts to omana@seiu500.org.

I wish all of you success and delight this fall as you step into your teaching space – whether classroom, distance learning, or studio.

Epilogue from SEIU Representation:  One of Libby’s part-time colleagues in Theatre/Dance had a similar problem with expected courses and responsibilities being assigned to the sabbatical replacement position, rather than having the load be drawn from the courses of the two absent full-timers’ responsibilities.  The circumstances surrounding this case were somewhat different.  In the end, SEIU was able to negotiate an acceptable “course cancellation fee” for this other part-timer, which she accepted rather than pursue a grievance under the contract.  This case along with Libby’s suggests that it’s important for part-timers to get advice and representation early so that an appropriate and timely resolution can be reached.