Academe Blog
by A Saint Leo University Faculty Member
November 20, 2020
In the face of challenging and even perilous working conditions, teachers at all levels need unions to help protect them during the pandemic. However, one university in Florida used the pandemic as an opportunity for union busting.
The story of the unilateral disenfranchisement of faculty members at Saint Leo University is remarkable for the number of faulty (yet familiar) arguments the administration is deploying to justify its actions. The story can serve as a cautionary case study for all faculty who want to prepare for the erosion of working conditions and rules.
On a late Friday afternoon, October 23, 2020, three emails rapidly flowed into the inboxes of Saint Leo faculty members. All carried the same news. The board of trustees had voted “to no longer recognize the United Faculty of Florida Union at Saint Leo as a collective bargaining unit.”