President Charles Desmarais:
For many years now, more than three-quarters of the teaching taking
place at the San Francisco Art Institute has been the work of adjuncts
who have no job security, who can be dismissed at the discretion of the
administration without notice, who are provided
no benefits, professional recognition, or seniority even after
contributing decades of exemplary service to the community. We have long
been described as "Visiting Faculty" at SFAI, even those of us who have
been an integral part of the work of the school
for decades. Lately, we have been described instead as "Contract
Faculty," a no less ironic designation since our "contracts" confer on
us no security, no status, no stability, no respect for our service and
loyalty, no recognized stake in the community to
which we devote so much of our lives.
Given all this, it is unsurprising that last year adjuncts at
SFAI voted to be represented by SEIU in unprecedented numbers. And this
year we have been negotiating the terms of a new adjunct faculty
contract with the administration. Throughout this process
of negotiations, our priorities have been the same as the ones that
impelled us to organize in the first place: we have sought real job
security, recognitions of excellence and seniority, and a greater voice
in governance to reflect the unique insights emerging
from our experience doing so much of the actual teaching of the actual
students for whom SFAI actually exists.
Throughout the year we have made many proposals and regularly offered
compromises in the face of administration counter-proposals, proceeding
in good faith, but the bargaining progress has recently stalled. The
administration's representatives have become
less timely in responding to our proposals in what has begun to seem an
effort to run out the clock as the academic year draws to a close and
public attention strays from the injurious impacts of administration
policies. More and more unionized adjuncts with
many years of service to SFAI are finding that they will no longer be
offered courses for the coming year; meanwhile, advertisements for new
replacement instructors grow apace. The most recent administration
proposal has not remotely met any of our concerns
or reflected the least awareness of our core values: it refuses to
provide any job security, any recognition of excellent or long service,
any relevant stake in governance. This is worse than unacceptable, it is
an outrageous expression of indifference and
disrespect to the history that brought us to this moment of distress.
In a communication to tenured faculty -- but apparently not to
adjuncts -- Dean Schreiber expressed incredulity at our response to the
administration's blanket rejection of our key demands, then went on to
explain that any "job security proposal… must take
into account our obligation to the entire institution to create a
system that provides the level of flexibility that we need." It is very
clear "the level of flexibility" that the administration thinks it
"needs" amounts to arbitrary discretion over hiring
and firing at will, precisely the intolerable state of affairs that
inaugurated this dispute. So long as "flexibility" amounts to absolute
unaccountable control over the terms of our employment it is
antithetical to any security for the dedicated, talented,
professionals who do most of the teaching at SFAI. It should go without
saying that the administration's "obligation to the entire institution"
actually includes obligations to all the people who are working here,
to the maintenance of a community that includes
us, and also requires support of ongoing academic standards and
traditions and a shared ethos that is ill-served by a precarious,
short-term, isolated, ill-respected cohort of teachers.
In your welcome message at the official SFAI website, you speak of
the Institute as a "tight-knit community of peers and accomplished
faculty" and that word "faculty" links to a directory that includes us
all. You say that "SFAI must apply its distinct culture
and long-held values in a contemporary context." We are sure you
understand that we are indispensable to that distinct culture and that
we are doing the work of applying those shared values. You immediately
recognized the verdict of our vote to unionize and
expressed a commitment to work with us on what you agreed were shared
concerns. That is why we are exhorting you now to become involved in the
bargaining at this crucial moment. Come to the table yourself and offer
up an acceptable and respectful proposal
to restore the good faith bargaining to which we must all remain
committed.
Over the next two weeks there will be a number of events celebrating
the accomplishments of our wonderful students at the close of another
academic year. As you know these events will be thronged with students,
donors, alumni, celebrated figures and press.
You should expect that we will be a presence in these events, educating
all the interested (and often, we fear, misinformed) stakeholders to
this institution about our circumstances and the present status of our
bargaining. Let us be clear, we are as dedicated
to and proud of our students as only their teachers could be, and we
are more thrilled than anybody to celebrate their work and achievements
with our community. The information we provide the public will not
disrupt their events or distract from their accomplishments.
If you could provide a tentative proposal by on job security that satisfies the Bargaining Team that administration
is finally showing real movement reflecting our demands for a system
recognizing tiers of seniority, providing a path for advancement
including multi-year contracts, offering a grandfathering system to
recognize the long service of many adjuncts, and a greater voice in our
coursework and school governance you can be sure that the information we
provide the public would reflect that promising
change and provide a congenial end-of-term for all.
SFAI Visiting Faculty Bargaining Team and Action Team
***
BACKGROUND:
San Francisco Art Institute Touts Diego Rivera Fresco Celebrating Labor Politics While Engaging in Union Busting
It's Now Or Never: An Adjunct Responds to SFAI's Latest Talking Points
It's Not Just SEIU They Oppose, That's Just the Line They've Settled On
The Willfulness of the "At Will" Academy
SFAI's Adjunct Union Voting Commences -- As Does the Latest and Last Union-Busting Gambit
SFAI Adjuncts Vote Overwhelmingly to Unionize With SEIU!
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