#Strike! Shock Doctrine & enough labor movies for a film festival

…but online as a series, called Strike! after a) the topic, b) Sergei Eisenstein's first full length film, and c) the Skokie Public Library online list of labor movies that Anna Spiro recently posted to the adj-l listserv… a public PS to Anna: I found a free online pdf version of Naomi Klein's Shock Doctrine and full (also free) online versions for most of the films on the list...now to decide which one to start with this evening (making this Sunday movie time more soiree than matinee). PPS: feel free to suggest more movies 

Anna wrote:

Onz upon a time — before Reagan and Thatcher and Friedman and the Chicago School of Economics — there was something called Keynesian economics [+ a mercifully brief comparison of Chicago School and Keynesian theories] and unionization. I truly feel all of the lessons of the past have been forgotten by the present generation, who need to get out there and fight for what they deserve. 

Here are some movies that perhaps should be shown during adjunct week or fair labor practices week... that would make a lot of sense these days. The list is from the Skokie (IL) public library. The banksters and their ilk have had a free ride for long enough... It's NOT just adjuncts...but people who work for Walmart, etc.   

I also again recommend at least Chapter One of Naomi Klein's' The Shock Doctrine ~ horrific and revealing in how how rights continue to be taken away from us. (We are about to get cameras inside NYS trains...)

Strike! Movies about Labor Unions

HE media recaps #CALconference

…in CHE/IHE…in case you missed live #socialmedia coverage, multiple twitter streams, Facebook coverage, SEIU's outstanding CAL Conference Storify (which gets my personal better reporting than usual media award) …now that the fat lady has not just sung but left the building …HE media tells us and the rest of higher ed what to think. It remains to be seen if mainstream media even notice Local 500's conference. Based on previous events, my guess would be that CAL conference organizer Anne McLeer, Adjunct Action's Mariah Quinn and the rest of their DC crew will not drop the ball on sending out press releases. One thing at a time: we'll get to those…

How to Attack & Destroy #HigherEd Labor Evil: The Secret revealed

…introducing #NewFac BoD member Alan Trevithick via his account of the incredible @SEIU500CAL #academiclabor Forum. Howzzat for multitasking?

Read this post, commit it to memory, and destroy, OK? Top secret!

Cadmo kills his dragon:
we will kill ours too

A trio of strong speakers, in remarks moderated by New Faculty Majority President Maria Maisto, opened up with powerful views about education. Speakers railed against the current intolerable conditions of the majority faculty, preached on the need for alliances between adcons and other communities—both more and less exploited—and robustly defended higher ed's true character as a public right and a public good--the only context in which the rights and working conditions of adjunct and contingent faculty will be genuinely addressed. 

It was wonderful.

Faculty Unions and Struggle: For, By, and Against

I work at three places, and belong to AFT-affiliate (NYSUT) locals at two of them. Do I lose interest in unions when I teach at the third?

Of course not, not least of all because I believe that union successes and failures, in the long run, raise and lower the bar for adjunct and contingent faculty working conditions.

But I have three ways of thinking about unions: for, by, and against.

Joe Berry's COCAL Updates, July28 & Aug3

...news & links about #ContingentFaculty, #academiclabor & #organizing in #highered. To subscribe to regular Updates, email joeberry@igc.org.  More about Joe Berry.  Updates are also archived at chicagococal.org. Follow COCAL International on Facebook.   

Chicago, Chicago...
Chicago teachers show mobilization and real strike threat can win, but fight and strike prep continues. 

Good story out of Chicago Reader on how Mayor Emanuel and Mitt Romney have the same education program and why (and Obama too). It also makes very clear why we need to support the Chicago Teachers Union as much as possible in their fight to preserve public education in Chicago and nationally. See Labor Notes article on the same issue  

Around the adjunctiverse

Joe Berry's COCAL Updates, July 11 & 13

...news & links about #ContingentFaculty, #academiclabor & #organizing in #highered. To subscribe to regular Updates, email joeberry@igc.org.  More about Joe Berry.  Updates are also archived at chicagococal.org. Follow COCAL International on Facebook.  

around the adjunctiverse

Judy Olson's first hand account and detailed analysis of contingent faculty success at NEA Assembly on unemployment support item, also covered by CHE and briefly in IHE   

New blog post by NFM veep Matt Williams, Wet Tinder or the contingent faculty movement catching fire?  

NFM blogger and board member, Bill Lipkin blogs for info about adjunct mentoring programs 

On adjuncting in Catholic higher ed and the threat of it (casualization) spreading into Catholic K12; Nashville K-12 schools going the adjunct route too  

Union made

Why Collective Bargaining Rights Are Important

Collective bargaining rights and organizing have been *in the news more this year than usual, marking successes, failures, challenges but also, to be hoped, renewed interest and public support. Time to revisit basics, whether introduction or refresher. Addenda welcome: alternatives; questions; comments; alternate views. 

What is collective bargaining and why is it so important? Or better yet, why should you care? This question has come up frequently over the past year due to all the press surrounding recent actions by politicians who have passed or attempted to pass legislation to strip collective bargaining rights from public sector employees. What has been missing from the discussion is an actual explanation and understanding of the concept of collective bargaining.

So let’s start with the basics.

Joe Berry's COCAL Updates, May29

... featuring news & links on #ContingentFaculty & #organizing #AcademicLabor in #highered. To subscribe to regular Updates, email joeberry@igc.org.  More about Joe Berry.  Updates are also archived at chicagococal.org. Follow COCAL International on Facebook 

Updates in brief and links

Around the Adjunctiverse...

Adjunct fired at Texas A&M (Daily Mail, UK), a public university, as indirect result of objecting to cross displayed on top of university building (e.g. files complaint with ACLU that leads to removal of crosses and subsequent email threats that administration does not act on but reacts by taking away her fall courses for speaking out), as recently reported in Crosses, Threats and an Adjunct by Scott Jaschik (Inside HigherEd). See also Seth Kahn's impressive letter to San Antonio Texas A&M administration (Adjunct Project). Breaking update: she is now in communication with The Fire, which took an immediate interest in the case.

Raritan Valley CC (NJ) adjunct union to protest at trustees meeting lack of progress in negotiations for contract.

Duquesne, Pittsburgh, adjunct union (USW) to have NLRB representational election in June-July, by mail; post by USW organizer on organizing adjuncts, at the Adjunct Project. FYI, organizer also interviewed for 'Junct Rebellion film.

Kalamazoo CC (MI) adjuncts vote overwhelmingly for union rep by AFT local

Joe Berry's COCAL Updates +

.. Check out new features, Petition Junction and Conference Corner. Are you shopping an adjunct or higher ed petition? Got a conference ~ on the horizon or in the rear view mirror ~ to share? Email me link and information on petition or conference.  

To subscribe to regular Updates, email joeberry@igc.org.  More about Joe Berry.  Updates are also archived at chicagococal.org. Follow COCAL International on Facebook  

Updates in brief and links

PETITION JUNCTION

• Release the DAVIS DOZEN
• Ana Maria Fores Tamayo to White House: Better Pay for Adjuncts
• from NFM to VP Biden, US Senate and others: Don't blame high tuition on faculty pay
• Progressive Secretary ~ Student Loan Rates, 

CONFERENCE CORNER

• Labor Notes Conference, May 4-5  
• Edufactory Conference: The University is Ours! Struggles Within and Beyond the Neoliberal University, April 27-29, 2012, Toronto, Ontario + photos. 
• COCAL International X Conference, Mexico City, August 10-12, 2012 at Universidad Nacional Autónimo de México (UNAM)  

TAKING ACTION

Joe Berry's COCAL Updates, 29April12

.. More this time because it's a twofer plus, e.g. two updates in one plus extra petitions for new Petitions Feature. Are you shopping an adjunct or higher ed petition? Email petition link to vanessa.vaile@newfacultymajority.info to add to petitions in Updates. To subscribe to regular Updates, email joeberry@igc.org.  More about Joe Berry.  Updates are also archived at chicagococal.org. FollowCOCAL International on Facebook 

Updates in brief and links

Petitions

• Ana’s Adjunct Pay Petition
• Petition OR State U admin to recognize grad employees' bargaining unit 
• Support forgiveness of student loans
• Tell Vice President Biden: Don't Blame Faculty for the High Cost of College; Most Are "Working Poor!"

AAUP

Joe Berry's COCAL Updates 16April12

Email joeberry@igc.org, to subscribe to regular updates in brief and links by email.  More about Joe Berry.  Updates are also archived at chicagococal.org. Follow COCAL International on Facebook 

Updates in brief and with links: emailed Apr16; reformatted, edited for web Apr19

Breaking... 

AAUP Election Results Reflect Backlash Against Recent Leadership Decisions: Election results (including released late Wednesday showed that all seven members of a slate calling itself "AAUP Organizing for Change" easily won races for the association's top posts, by Peter Schmidt, Chronicle. Incoming AAUP President, Rudy H. Fichtenbaum, Chronicle photo by Leonardo Carrizo  

. 

Taking Action...

Bill Barry (shown here with Mother Jones) has come out with a new book, Union Strategies for Hard Times,  to address every situation an organizer, or an organizing program would confront trying to rebuild the union movement. (PS, love the Labor Studies program tees: "Danger! Educated Union Member")

 The book, 130 pages long, is based on the experiences of many organizers and covers in every topic three different areas—private sector unions, public sector unions and building trades—and includes materials that have been developed both for real campaigns and for organizers' training sessions that Barry has run. The book is $17.00 and can be ordered from me (4204 Elsrode Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21214) or from Union Communications, Inc. in Annapolis. Discounts for orders of more than 10 copies.

Joe Berry's COCAL Updates 23Mar12

Email joeberry@igc.org, to subscribe to regular updates in brief and links by email. More about Joe Berry.   

Updates in brief and links

ADJUNCTIVERSE

Adjunct problem is every professor's problem, on More or Less Bunk 

Idaho adjunct with bipolar disorder fired after gun incident 

A "nosey" philosophical contribution by our fellow precarious faculty (and author) Alex Kudera, on his blog

Adjunct Nation,  about "one of the fastest-growing job titles in America ... ‘adjunct professor’ (an ill-paid, overworked species of academic).” IHE

Article about College of William and Mary adjuncts 

ORGANIZING

Joe Berry's COCAL Updates 20March12

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Updates in Brief and Links

CHICAGO

What does it mean to do progressive work today? What are the core qualities of successful organizers? How do we build the organizations and movements that these times call for?

For folks in and near Chicago, Eric Mann of the Strategy Center and Bus Riders Union in LA will be in Chicago March 22, 5:30 - 7:30 PM, at the Jane Addams Hull House on the UIC campus to do a talk   on Transformative Organizing: A Theory and Practice for a Social Justice Revolution. He will talk about his new book, Playbook for Progressives: 16 Qualities of the Successful Organizer, a very good book distilling his 40 years of organizing experience. He has been very supportive of contingent issues and one of his children is a contingent faculty person.

 About: Eric Mann is the director of the Labor/Community Strategy Center in Los Angeles and a founder of the Bus Riders Union. The Strategy Center is a "think tank/act tank" that trains organizers and initiates high visibility environmental justice, mass transportation, and civil rights campaigns. The BRU is the largest mass transportation group in the U.S. and the subject of Haskell Wexler's feature length documentary: Bus Riders Union. 

He has written seven books and is the co-host of the weekly radio show, Voices from the Frontlines, on KPFK Pacifica 90.7FM in Los Angeles. He has published more than 200 articles that have appeared in the New York Times, L.A. Times, Boston Globe, Boston After Dark, Worldwatch, Socialist Register, Black Agenda Report, Black Commentator, AhoraNow, and The Nation. 

Union staff job opening (organizer) for grad union, AFT 6300, at U of IL, Chicago

WEST COAST

More on CA Fed Of Teachers deal with Gov. Brown on dropping the Millionaire's Tax for a compromise with his less progressive initiative, Labor Notes

INTERNATIONAL

• Mexican private universities growing fast, quality concerns [not sure how many of these are for-profit or who the faculty are exactly, but I can guess] World University News
• In Columbia debate of private higher ed, both non-profit and for-profit.  World University News 
• In Russia private higher ed expanding. World University News
• Research paper on contingent academics in Australia  [We are the majority there too.]

Research Project, Teacher Unions, Outsourcing

• Appeal for info for research project on grad employees:  Nancy Poole, LIS/Educational Studies, UNC at Greensboro, is collecting stipend.tuition/responsibilities information for graduate assistants at all levels, nationally. I would like to include our Canadian colleagues as well. Please visit the The Graduate Assistant Project site and fill out the form (it can be as anonymous as you want ;=) You can see the results of all the data collection at once by clicking on the spreadsheet link.  Please pass this on to all of your graduate assistant contacts.  This information is open to all who may have a need to be informed.

• Romney says taking on teacher unions is Feds role. AFL-CIO blog

• Universities moving to outsource instruction to outside private entities, not just hiring contingents internally on second tier. [This is a serious threat, which Fox, of course, really likes. No longer having the institution as the employer would make organization of these faculty much harder] Fox Business News  

Email joeberry@igc.org, to subscribe to regular updates in brief and links by email. More about Joe Berry.  

Joe Berry's COCAL Updates 17Mar12

Email joeberry@igc.org, to subscribe to regular updates in brief and links by email. More about Joe Berry. 

Updates in brief and links

LABOR*ED

The war on teachers (by a very good labor historian Mark Naison). WaPo.

Labor Heritage Foundation presents its own Great Labor Arts Exchange, Conference on Creative Organizing, and Camp Solidarity June 22-25, 2012 located this year at Conference Center at the Maritime Trades Institute, just outside of Baltimore, MD.    

We are looking for presenters, workshops, and participants for our June annual gathering now in its 34th year and shaping up to be a very exciting program.  Register now for the early bird special rate of $99.00 (regular) and $75.00 (for students, youth, and seniors). The Great Labor Arts Exchange is a gathering of union and community activists, rank and filers, organizers, cultural workers, artists, labor educators, and youth who use, or support the use of, songs, art, poetry, theater, skits, posters, cartoons, and film to strengthen the labor movement.  You don't need to be an artist or performer to attend or perform! 

Registration information, now being taken online. Follow us on Twitter at @GreatLaborArts ~ Strengthening the labor movement through the use of arts and culture...and creative organizing 

Joe Berry's COCAL Updates 13Mar12

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Updates in brief and links

Joe Berry issuing report card to Chicago college 

[COLORADO] tops today's list

• Colorado House legalizes enforceable contracts for adjuncts  
• Editorial supporting new adjunct legislation in CO

[NORTH ATLANTIC] 

• Boston College adjunct let go over his criticism of Church for failure to ordain women
• Unionization bill  (for contingent faculty) pulled from Maryland Legislature  (AFT Maryland accused of back door deal)
• More  on American University since the successful election

Joe Berry's COCAL Updates 3Mar12

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Note: Please participate in the March 1-8 week of action called nationally by Occupy. For details see Occupy Edu on Tumblr and Occupy Education CA. Check your local area for more details.

 

Updates in Brief and Links

1. Workers, supported by their union, United Electrical Workers (UE),  re-occupy former Republic Windows and Doors plant (now Serious Materials) in Chicago [video]   to stop closure and save jobs. [Could contingent faculty consider occupation as a tactic?] Press release, "Workers Strike a Deal to Try and Save Jobs." Contact:  Leah Fried, UE Organizer  773-550-3022 , leahfried@gmail.com

2. New study from UC Berkeley shows for-profits taking up slack for public institutions cutbacks, with quality falling as a result, "the Brazilian effect" (Inside HigherEd)

3. Yet another Chicago building occupation, this one of a school slated for closure. (Labor Notes)

4. March 1 Action in Chicago at East-West and Columbia and Pfac update on situation at Columbia College Chicago here, from Pfac Executive Committee.

5. Upcoming at Left Forum, March 16-18,  in NYC: