MEDIA ADVISORY
Nationwide Week of Activism to Raise Awareness for Contingent Faculty’s Low Wages, Lack of Benefits
Contact: Maria Somma 412-562-1992, msomma@usw.org
(Pittsburgh) – Dozens of members of the United Steelworkers-affiliated Adjunct Faculty Association (AFA-USW) will hold events on their Pittsburgh campuses next week to raise awareness of adjunct professors’ poverty-level wages, lack of health care and permanent part-time status.
The AFA-USW includes adjunct faculty from Duquesne and Point Park universities, the University of Pittsburgh, the Community College of Allegheny County and other Pittsburgh-area schools. The group will be participating in the national Campus Equity Week, a series of local actions that together call widespread attention to the unfair conditions under which thousands of contingent faculty work.
Events in Pittsburgh include a decentralized teach-in, during which members of the AFA-USW will be discussing labor conditions in higher education with their classes. The AFA-USW also distributed teaching materials and a letter urging other faculty and graduate students to spend a portion of their classes next week talking about issues of contingency and equity at their schools.
To date, events with photo and interview opportunities include:
Outdoor Office Hours: Adjunct professors at Duquesne University will demonstrate by holding office hours outdoors on the university’s Academic Walk at 4:30 p.m. on Monday, October 28th.
Free Concert: Adjunct Emily Rodgers and the bands The Homeless Gospel Choir and The Armadillos will play at Howler's Coyote Cafe, 4509 Liberty Ave., Bloomfield, at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, October 29th.
Adjunct Cider Stand: Members of the AFA-USW will distribute “adjunct,” “tenured” and “administrator” sized cups of apple cider on Duquesne University’s Academic Walk at 2 p.m. on Thursday, October 31st.
The group will also be holding a week-long Twitter event under the handle @AFA_USW and using the hashtags #CEW13, #CEW2013, and #iammargaretmary.
The AFA-USW is an affiliate of the United Steelworkers, the largest industrial labor union in North America. It promotes the rights of the Non-Tenure Track (NTT) academic workforce in the Pittsburgh area.
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