Category: Current Issues

Reduction in pay? You may be eligible for financial assistance.

At this time of year, there is always uncertainty for adjunct faculty and others whose work is not guaranteed in the new year. The pandemic has only made things worse.

As a worker, you have been charged in every paycheck for insurance to cover you in times like these. That’s what unemployment is… and it is important to understand your eligibility and how to apply to secure available benefits.

Unfortunately, the process is complicated for part-time school workers, and you may experience a significant lag time before you receive money from the state unemployment office. But even with that lag, if you are eligible, you will be able to collect back pay only from the day you apply, so it’s important that you do so as soon as possible. In this case, you want to file the day after you are no longer a Temple employee.

Check your contract – not your teaching schedule or pay date – to determine the last day you’re with Temple. You can apply for unemployment the day after your contract expires.

Even if you are working, if you have experienced a drop of 10% or more in pay that’s due to a decision from your employer, you may be able to collect partial benefits. So, if your credit load is reduced in the spring, you should consider applying.

Given the complex nature of unemployment programs, we are offering free unemployment compensation workshops next week on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. Please register for one of the time slots here.

Contract Enforcement Training

Do you know about the new guidelines about how student feedback forms can be used in personnel decisions? Unsure about your health and safety rights? What new language is in the contract about adjuncts applying for promotion and multi-semester contracts? What is The Tuition Exchange and how does it work?

The power of our contract comes from our ability to enforce it. We are hosting a contract enforcement training from 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 17 led by our general counsel, John Campbell-Orde.

This training will cover changes to the contract, and the best ways to ensure the language is enforced. For those who are unable to attend, the training will be recorded.

RSVP Here.

Unreturned Mail-in Ballots Could Swing Election

Did you return your mail-in ballot? Do you know someone who applied for a mail-in ballot who hasn’t returned it yet?

As of Friday, a shocking number – 32%  – still hadn’t returned their mail-in ballot for processing in Pennsylvania, according to the U.S. Elections Project.

At this time, we do NOT recommend mailing your ballot in due to unpredictable delays in the postal service. 

Instead, please speak with your friends and family to ensure everyone who applied for a mail-in ballot uses a designated dropbox, satellite elections office or their county board of elections. VotesPA.com offers a search engine to find your local drop off location, click here.

This is no joke. Your actions in reaching out to family and friends could decide the election. Four years ago, Donald Trump won Pennsylvania by fewer than 50,000 votes.

Currently, more than 980,000 mail-in ballots have not been completed and/or returned to their county boards of election.

As you may have heard, there is a dispute over when ballots have to be received. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court granted a three-day extension beyond Nov. 3. Republicans twice appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court and their appeals were rejected. But in a recent opinion three conservative justices have left open the possibility that ballots received after Nov. 3 might still be ruled invalid.

So please return your mail-in ballot in person ASAP!