Support Howard University NTT Faculty
3/22/2022
Dear FSU Members,
Please consider signing the solidarity statement below, written by Higher Ed Labor United in support of (and written in consultation with) Howard University NTT faculty, who are planning to strike this Wednesday. They need our support!
Dear President Frederick and Provost Wutoh:
Representing over 532,000 higher education workers from 131 union locals and organizations across the US, we have come together to form Higher Education Labor United (HELU). We strongly support the demands of Howard University’s non-tenure-track (NTT) lecturers and adjuncts for reasonable compensation, stability of employment, long-term job security, and increased transparency and consistency around hiring, promotion, and termination. We urge you to negotiate with SEIU Local 500 in good faith as quickly as possible in order to avoid forcing them to strike.
Nationally, contingent higher education workers like adjuncts and NTT faculty face unfair working conditions — they do not receive reasonable compensation and benefits, need to constantly reapply for their positions, and lack any type of job security. They are thus overworked, frequently need to take on multiple jobs to make ends meet, and are unable to plan for the future. It’s an untenable situation, and it needs to change.
At Howard, NTT faculty teach 2000 sections per year, generally on short-term (semester or year at best) contracts, for compensation that’s simply not adequate. Faculty who want to make long-term commitments to your institution, your mission, and your students cannot do so, since NTT employment is capped at seven years. This rule has resulted in Howard losing many talented and dedicated faculty members. At this moment, we are facing rising inflation and instability along with attacks on academic freedom. We need job security and the ability to plan for the long-term. We need to be supported by our institutions.
Students served by HBCUs need support more than ever, even as these institutions face dire threats. Howard’s students have faced diminishing investment in their education and their university. We must protect their interests and future by supporting the workers who ensure students receive the kind of education Howard can be proud to provide. Strong support for faculty who do the core work of the university is crucial. When NTT faculty and adjuncts stand up, they are standing up for students, too.
If your NTT faculty and adjuncts decide they need to strike, we will stand with them for as long as it takes. We hope it doesn’t come to that. A strike can only be avoided if you do the right thing and bargain seriously. The faculty want nothing more than to do their jobs and fulfill one of the most important institutional missions in the country; their interest is the same as yours. They deserve your respect and good faith.
Respectfully,
Higher Ed Labor United
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