At least fifty faculty attended the November 22 meeting. Kye Carbone reported that 210 petitions were delivered to the administration in support of obtaining a 50% buy-in for adjuncts’ health benefits, in addition to explaining the history of this issue (the joint union-administration committee on the Visiting status), and the gradual shrinking of the number of Visiting faculty vis a vis the Adjunct/Full-time status. Pratt’s faculty is currently composed of 130 FT, 325 Adjunct, and 430 Visitors, marking great progress over the past 6-7 years, when the Visiting category had ballooned. Next, he began to cover issues related to the upcoming negotiation, beginning with salary, and emphasizing that the Union can only negotiate minima (floors), and that it is to the benefit of the whole faculty when a new faculty member’s salary raises the bar. He also addressed workload. Topics from the floor included raising minima for PT faculty, the FT/PT faculty ratio, and the procedures for insuring that members’ have a voice in the preparation for negotiations. Kye assured those present that there will be weekly open meetings in Spring 2011 to allow faculty to voice their desires and concerns.
Please try to attend the December 8 Meeting, 5-6:30, Alumni Reading Room (Pratt Library). RSVP keycarbone@gmail.com, or 718-636-3614.