Eastern Michigan University part-time lecturers face 25 percent pay cut
By
Joseph Lorenz
25 May 2017
The Eastern Michigan University administration is attempting to cut the pay for new part-time lecturers by 25 percent and eliminate promotions and job security for current employees. Part-time lecturers have demonstrated against these demands, which management is seeking in current talks for a new labor agreement, according to the Eastern Michigan University Federation of Teachers (EMU-FT). The lecturers’ current contract expires on August 31.
Protesters demonstrated outside a board of regents meeting on April 21, followed by a May Day rally on campus and another demonstration on May 15 against attacks on lecturers’ living standards. The pay cuts would give department heads financial incentive to replace current lecturers with newer, poorly paid ones.
This attack only highlights the penury educators already confront. The median salary for part-time faculty is $15,000, according to the union. According to another EMU-FT spokesperson, speaking on National Public Radio affiliate WEMU, the benefits offered to the part-time lecturers in the current contract proposal “remained the same, which is no health care and no retirement.”
This in line with part-time faculty throughout the country. In a national survey of part-time/adjunct faculty published by the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) in 2010, half of part-time faculty at four-year public universities reported they earn less than $15,000 annually.
The proposed 25 percent pay cut is to be applied to the $1,200 per credit that lecturers currently receive. This payment method is typical for part-time faculty, who often devote much of their personal time to preparing for instructional time. This can involve grading,…