To all NYS Residents,
A bill has been drafted in the state legislature that is aimed specifically at contingent faculty rights: S4123 (Onorato) and A0613-(John) would allow faculty to collect Unemployment Insurance over summer and winter breaks.
Adjuncts have usually been denied Unemployment Insurance on grounds that said contracts constitute "reasonable assurance" of future employment, even though in fact the courses can always be cut at the last minute, and the adjunct's just out of luck.
This is a huge issue nationwide in contingent-faculty rights, and in NYS the idea of this bill has been debated -- in committee, between SUNY-UUP and CUNY-PSC, etc. -- for years.
Now it's finally coming to a vote on the floors of the NYS Legislature. So please go online to http://www.uupinfo.org or: http://www.nysut.org/cps/rde/xchg/nysut/hs.xsl/contactelectedofficials_12916.htm
This bill is backed by the AFL-CIO and has a real chance of passage. Please take a minute to show your support NOW.
And if you're not from New York state, please contribute details and anecdotes about how your state deals with this issue.
Steve Street, Buffalo State
Peter D.G. Brown, SUNY New Paltz
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