Speaking Out

Washington State Stands United

According to Washington state’s new faculty collective bargaining law, if you teach class and give grades at a public university, you have bargaining rights. There are no separate units for tenured faculty or part-time faculty.

This inclusiveness makes sense. All faculty standing together can improve their working conditions and compensation, strengthen their profession, and carry out their mission to educate the daughters and sons of our state. At Eastern Washington University, our union, the United Faculty of Eastern, is preparing for a union election this fall.

Our colleagues at Central Washington University recently won union representation with 63 percent support from the voting faculty. The United Faculty of Central will represent a unit that is majority tenure or tenure-track faculty, but faculty with annual or quarter contracts also voted and will be represented by the union.

At Western Washington University our colleagues are also preparing for a union election this academic year. All three faculty locals are part of the faculty union network, United Faculty of Washington State, a partnership between NEA, AFT, the Washington Education Association and the AFT Washington.

The benefits of inclusive bargaining units are clear. Having all faculty in one unit enables the faculty union to negotiate, for example, more tenure-track positions and develop protections for part-time faculty on issues such as class sizes, office space, and employment notification. Compensation can be addressed for all faculty.

With all faculty in one unit, administrators cannot hire faculty outside the bargaining unit. All faculty will be hired based on department academic needs and collective bargaining agreements.

One inclusive faculty bargaining unit will give faculty an effective voice as a legal equal with the administration to carry out our mission to provide quality instruction to our students. Further, we will have a stronger voice on public issues, such as supporting a November state-wide ballot initiative that will direct millions of dollars to higher education for student scholarships and increased enrollments.

In Washington, faculty—full-time and adjunct—are standing together to meet their commitments to the students and citizens of this state.

Tony Flinn, an associate professor of English at Eastern Washington University, is president of the United Faculty of Eastern, part of the United Faculty of Washington State. Keep abreast of their organizing activities at www.ufws.org.