The Chronicle of Higher Education
July 24th, 2014
The Service Employees International Union is accustomed to winning—persuading adjunct faculty members to unionize on campuses around the country.
But this week, the SEIU suffered a rare setback when adjuncts at the University of Saint Thomas, in St. Paul, voted against forming a union.
The union movement is still growing in Minnesota, though, as it is across the country, SEIU officials said. They characterized the defeat at Saint Thomas as stemming from a unique situation in which many adjuncts wanted to try to work with the university’s leadership before forming a union to negotiate.
"It’s disappointing, but we’re all incredibly proud of the gains that we’re getting," said Denise Welte, organizing director at SEIU Local 284. "It brings to light what adjuncts face every day in their day-to-day life. We’ll continue to fight."
The SEIU’s national campaign to organize adjuncts has focused on metropolitan areas such as Boston, Los Angeles, Washington, and the Twin Cities. The effort seeks to put competitive pressure on colleges in large, urban labor markets to improve working conditions for their own adjunct instructors.