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BRONX TIMES REPORTER, APR. 15-21, 2022 BXR
BY ROBBIE SEQUEIRA
Mercy College adjunct staff
are prepared to strike if college
administrators do not accommodate
calls for an immediate increase
of minimum adjunct pay
to $4,700 per course and longerterm
appointments during the
semester, as many adjuncts say
they are not guaranteed a job beyond
one semester.
The union voted overwhelmingly
to strike last week and are
giving Mercy College — which
has campuses in Dobbs Ferry,
the Bronx and midtown Manhattan
— until semester’s end, on
April 23, to meet their demands.
A member affi liated with Service
Employees International Union
(SEIU) told the Bronx Times a formal
strike could happen as soon
as May 2, if the private university
doesn’t meet the union’s contract
demands.
“We intend to go forward with
a strike vote because the administration
has given little to no
movement over 29 bargaining sessions,
particularly with regards
to wages and job security,” said
Katherine Flaherty, a Mercy College
adjunct professor in the Seminars
program. “These issues
are essential because our working
conditions are our students’
learning conditions.”
Members representing a union
of 700 adjunct faculty and lecturers
told the Times that negotiations
had taken over two years
without, in their eyes, signifi cant
progress in wage and contract negotiations,
including refusal to
agree to any proposals that would
provide for a signifi cant increase
in adjunct pay or that would provide
real job security, through
longer-term appointments.
Additionally, adjuncts said
that Mercy administrators have
also refused to agree to any proposals
that establish a grievance
process that includes binding arbitration
through a neutral, third
party.
Mercy College administrators
told the Bronx Times in a statement
that both parties met Monday
to exchange counter proposals
and jointly expressed their
desire to avoid a strike or any
type of disruption to the spring
term.
“The College and the (union)
have scheduled a series of meetings
later this month where they
will meet consecutively for three
days and are cautiously optimistic
that they will reach a contract,”
an offi cials from Mercy
College said.
Mercy College relies on adjunct
faculty and lecturers to
teach its predominantly working
class students, who make
up approximately 70% of Mercy
College’s instructional faculty.
However, adjunct faculty wages
lag signifi cantly behind other regional
colleges.
Most adjunct faculty make between
$3,000 and $3,300 per threecredit
course, and are hired on a
A Mercy adjunct faculty union voted overwhelmingly to strike last week and are
giving the college until April 23 to meet their demands. Photo courtesy Mercy
College
semester-by-semester basis, with
no guarantee of reappointment
or renewal, whereas non-adjunct,
full-time staff earn about $4,000
per three-credit course.
“As an adjunct faculty member
in the nursing department I
am ready to strike for a fair contract,”
said Crisanta Melicio, a
Mercy Faculty Forward/SEIU
bargaining committee member.
“Two and a half years is too long
to go without a fair pay increase
and job security. The impact adjunct
contingency has on our
students is signifi cant — they deserve
a stable workforce of teachers
who can assist them through
the long haul at Mercy.”
Adjuncts allege that despite a
4-to-1 vote for unionization in the
summer of 2019, Mercy College
President Tim Hall and college
administrators had engaged in
anti-union busting efforts. Unionization
efforts across city and industry
have ramped up in recent
weeks with union wins for Staten
Island Amazon employees and
Fordham grad students.
Mercy College adjuncts
prepared to strike
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