Adjuncts Make Strides Towards Equitable Pay

It is a basic principle of employment and a fundamental theory of our nation's economic system that a worker's rate of pay should be directly correlated to their workload. Therefore, the relationship between workload and pay rate should change in a proportional fashion: more work beckons a higher rate of pay. According to this standard, the adjunct professors at Plymouth State University have been severely exploited. PSU employs almost 300 adjunct faculty members. In fact, adjunct professors constitute the majority of the teaching staff at the University, and their areas of expertise cover almost every department on campus. However, the University does not offer them any benefits, they have virtually no job security, and earn only a fraction of what a full- time professor earns, even if they are teaching a full course load.

For years, adjuncts at PSU have struggled to make ends meat, often forcing them to pick up a second, third, or even fourth job to pay the bills. Dr. Krisan Evenson, an adjunct professor for the social sciences department, voiced one of the greater laments that adjuncts share. "Without a contract, it's impossible to get a loan for a car. You can't demonstrate to a bank that you have steady employment. And trying to pay for your own health insurance on top of that... It's awful."

Adjuncts at PSU have always had a difficult time trying to combat the insufficient wages they earn, especially because they have to present their case to the administration on an individual level. "As an adjunct here," said English professor Jay Knower, "it's very easy to feel isolated. You have to act as an individual in everything you do."

As of recently, though, the adjuncts at PSU have been hustling together to combat the injustices that have vexed them all and are currently working to form a union.

If they are successful in their conquests, the adjunct faculty members at PSU will be able to negotiate with the administration as a collective bargaining unit, rather than on an individual basis. "This bit of effort, now, uplifts the financial fates of adjuncts to come, as well as adjuncts now," said Lynn Rudmin-Chong, adjunct professor of English at PSU. "Enjoy some positive good feeling now, for fair pay to replace inequitable pay in the future."

The adjunct team has been comparing their wage earnings with adjuncts at fellow University System of New Hampshire institution Keene State College, who are currently unionized. In fact, when Keene adjuncts were unionizing in 1993, they backed their case by juxtaposing their earnings with adjuncts at PSU, who at the time were being paid more per credit. Since unionizing, the discrepancies in earnings has shifted, with Keene State adjuncts now earning up to $500 more per credit than adjuncts at Plymouth State.

Most of the adjuncts are currently living just at or below the poverty line, and feel that unionizing would be the most effec- tive means to achieve equitable pay with the adjuncts at Keene State. Ian Newman, who has been working with the adjuncts since summer to help them organize and eventually unionize, has gathered a fair understanding of their struggle. "Many full-time adjuncts at PSU are essentially the working poor."

So why do so many adjuncts continue to teach here year after year? "We love to teach," said Evenson. "I don't know if the students here realize how important it is to us to be able to serve them." Ask any adjunct that same question, and they will tell you that the number-one motivating factor for their remaining at PSU is the students they teach. "The classroom environment is great," said Knower. "It's just the treatment we receive when we step outside of the classroom. We can't help but feel like we are treated as second-rate employees."

Though their situation has been tumultuous over the past few years, Knower said that the recent sentiment among adjuncts at PSU has been a sense of optimism. "We have a lot to feel hopeful for right now," he said. With the advent of unionization in clear reach, the adjuncts are closer than ever before towards reaching their goals.

The adjuncts at PSU are riding the wave of a recent nationwide movement that has inspired adjunct professors from schools all over the country to come together and unionize. "All we want is equitable pay, recognition of integrity, and to be able to teach with dignity," said Evenson, and was supported by Knower and Newman, "which is really not that much to ask for." Newman, Knower, and Evenson all agree that their requests are not only realistic, but also just. "Adjuncts don't receive just compensation for their hard work," said Knower, "and we are simply doing what needs to be done to correct it."