Georgetown Adjuncts Unionize

(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)Part-time faculty at Georgetown University overwhelmingly voted in a union on May 3. “Universities across the country have been relying more and more on adjunct faculty over the last forty years,” said Kurt Brandhorst, an adjunct in the Georgetown philosophy department. “But the way adjuncts are viewed and treated has not changed to reflect this reality. This victory will help improve conditions at Georgetown, but because we are joining adjuncts at other institutions across the region, the implications go far beyond Georgetown.” The University was praised for their attitude towards the adjuncts’ efforts to organize a union. “The administration made a point of putting their social teaching into practice,” said David Rodich, Executive Director of SEIU Local 500. “They respected the right of adjunct faculty to organize, remained neutral and gave them the space and freedom to make this choice. I hope that other institutions will look at how Georgetown put its just employment policy into practice and that they will view this as a model for how universities should handle organizing campaigns.” Georgetown joins American University and George Washington University in having adjunct faculty unions affiliated with SEIU Local 500, which now represents more than three-fourths of the adjunct work force at colleges in the District of Columbia.