Category: Adjunct

Unemployment Compensation Workshops

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TAUP will be holding workshops to offer information about applying for Unemployment Compensation starting on Thursday of this week.

Whether you have questions about eligibility, how to properly fill out forms, if you want to know what to do if you are still working part time, or anything else, we can help you.

Workshops are one hour long and by appointment only. Anyone in the TAUP collective bargaining unit is welcome to attend.

We have tried to offer as many dates and times as possible. Please see the schedule below and email TAUPUCworkshops@gmail.com to make an appointment

 

For Adjuncts: Here’s How You Can Pay Your Dues

As mentioned in our last eBulletin, Temple has a period of time during which they will be configuring their systems to collect union dues from adjuncts. But that’s over a semester away.  Because of this, we are working with a company that collects dues for other unions across the country. We aim to have it up and running before December paychecks are out. In the meantime, we are asking members to pay dues this month by check. Your dues are 0.55% of your pay (which goes to TAUP) plus $9.48 (which goes to our affiliates, the AFT, AFTPA and AFLCIO). For most adjuncts, this will be between $15-16 per course, per pay period.

We do need the support of our members to do the work that allows us to continue to build our strength and helps us in enforcing the contract, providing services for members, and bargaining for more gains in the future. We look to you to pay your share.

When our system for automatic dues deduction is launched, we will be in touch with you. Meanwhile, please take a moment to send a check to TAUP and bring it to our office at 721 Ritter Annex or mail it to:

TAUP

1301 Cecil B. Moore Avenue

Ritter Annex 721 (04-15)

Philadelphia, PA 19122-6091

 

SCHEDULE

By appointment only in the TAUP office (721 Ritter Annex)

TAUPUCworkshops@gmail.com

Thursday, December 7

4pm

5pm

6pm

Friday, December 8

2pm

3pm

4:30pm

5:30pm

Monday, December 11

All day by appointment

 

Tuesday, December 12

Before noon by appt

 Wednesday, December 13

9am

10am

11am

 Thursday, December 14

9am

10am

11am

Noon

1pm

2pm

3pm

Friday, December 15

9am

10am

11am

Noon

1pm

Saturday, December 16

9am – 5pm by appt

Sunday, December 17

9am – 6pm by appt

 

Adjunct Raises

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Among the gains in the new contract is a raise for eligible adjuncts making under $1425 per credit hour, retroactive to the beginning of this semester. We have just confirmed with Temple’s Human Resources department that the retroactive pay owed from the first two pay periods will be included in adjuncts’ November paychecks. This means your November paycheck will be larger than usual, and your December paycheck will reflect your new monthly rate of pay (for the fall semester; in the spring, there are 5 pay periods instead of 4).

You are eligible for a raise IF:

·        in addition to teaching this semester, you have also taught for at least one semester over the last three. (If this is your first semester teaching at Temple, you will receive a raise the next time you teach, provided it’s within the next three semesters.)

AND

·        you have been making under $1425 per credit hour. You rate will be raised to $1425.

If you are making between $1425 to $1500. You will receive a one-time $150 dollar bonus.

If you make $1300/credit, the most common rate of pay that will be affected by the raise, you can reference this chart to determine the accuracy of your gross pay in the next two pay periods.

We highly recommend that everyone check their paychecks both in November and December.

If you find a discrepancy in your gross pay from what is stated here, please contact TAUP and your department chair or program director.

An Adjunct Couple Speaks for Contract Ratification

Our names are Canan and James. We’re partners and we both teach as adjunct faculty in the Department of Sociology. As adjunct faculty at Temple University, we deserve to be recognized as workers who contribute to the university’s mission to provide excellence in teaching to Temple’s diverse and engaged student population. That’s why we’re excited to be members of TAUP and ratify our first-ever union contract with an overwhelming YES  vote.

We all know too well that adjunct labor and the particular difficulties of adjunct life often remain hidden. In many cases, full-time faculty have never met the adjunct faculty in their own departments who teach a large portion of the classes and keep departments running.  Most students don’t really know if their instructor is an adjunct, and if they do, what that means for our day-to-day life. Many don’t  know what a low percentage of the tuition they pay actually goes toward paying their adjunct instructors.

Ratifying this contract will give adjuncts an immediate pay bump from $1300/credit to $1425, and another raise next year to $1500. It provides 50% and 25% health care subsidies to adjuncts.  It also lays the groundwork for adjuncts to build meaningful job security, seniority, and a promotion structure into future contracts. This contract shines light on our conditions as precarious adjunct labor, and recognizes adjuncts not simply as miscellaneous faces in the crowd, but as significant workers who put our time and energy into educating Temple’s diverse student population.

Uniting with full-time faculty in the bargaining process provides space for us to share our mutual concerns and use our strength in numbers to win. By working under a contract, adjunct faculty can begin to work towards obtaining the rights to a basic and decent livelihood that all university workers deserve. All members of TAUP will have the opportunity to ratify this contract between September 25 – 29 in an online vote. Add your name here if you plan on helping our first contract pass with an overwhelming YES vote.

In solidarity,
Canan Tanir

James Parisot

Adjunct Instructors, Sociology