NLRB Official Agrees That Temporary Faculty Have Right to Join Faculty Union With SEIU Local 509

Attorney Patrick Bryant persuaded the Boston Regional Office of the National Labor Relations Board that "Temporary Faculty" should be included in a proposed faculty bargaining unit at Lesley University. Last year, part-time adjuncts voted overwhelmingly to form a union to improve their working conditions. Now, Faculty Forward of SEIU Local 509 seeks to build on that success by organizing Lesley's full-time and part-time faculty, who are sometimes referred to as "core faculty."

Local 509 recently filed a petition to represent all core faculty at Lesley. The Union and Lesley agreed about all positions eligible to vote for a union, but Lesley sought to exclude 10 percent of core faculty that it designates as "Temporary Faculty."

Core faculty work under contracts that last anywhere from 1 to 10 years, and have the possibility of renewal. (Lesley ceased providing tenure protections for core faculty decades ago) About 10 percent of Lesley's approximately 160 faculty core are considered "Temporary Faculty". They are core faculty signed to one-year "temporary" contracts and generally are substituting for faculty on leave, or teaching while Lesley seeks to hire a permanent core faculty. Temporary faculty generally receive the exact same pay and benefits as other core faculty and generally have the exact same responsibilities, including instruction, student advising, and participation in university activities, as core faculty. (There are some differences between Temporary and Core duties/compensation, but they are minor).

The evidence showed that more than one-third of the 14 Temporary Faculty have taught, despite express one-year contracts, for more than one year in a row. In addition, Lesley admitted that it has difficulty filling certain core faculty vacancies, making it imperative to rely upon Temporary Faculty for consecutive years.

The Regional Director agreed with SEIU Local 509 that Temporary Faculty should not be excluded from an election. In May, Core Faculty will be able to vote by mail of whether they seek a Union to improve their working conditions and teaching environment.