Members of Skidmore Faculty Forward/Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 200United, which represents approximately 190 non-tenure-track (NTT) faculty, librarians, and accompanists at Skidmore College, rallied on campus today to demand that the College administration negotiate in good faith towards a fair first contract.
Negotiations towards a first collective bargaining agreement have stretched out over nearly two years and more than 30 bargaining sessions, including a brief session just before today’s rally. While there are approximately 20 tentative agreements on various articles of the eventual union contract, the Skidmore administration continues to stall on several core demands for the Union.
"Our Negotiating Committee has bargained in good faith. We show up to meetings, reply promptly with counter proposals, and tell the truth,” **said Jeremy Sloane, Instructor of Biology. “The Administration’s approach? To delay, deny it is delaying, and blame us for larger college-**wide financial issues. To cancel bargaining sessions and hold back counter proposals for months at a time. This is not acceptable, and it’s why we are here today."
The Union’s core demands include: regular salary increases that reflect the increased cost of living in the Saratoga Springs area and the decades-long history of undercompensating NTT faculty; limiting the number of years NTT faculty can be hired on terminal contracts despite filling long-term curricular needs; transparent and uniform evaluation procedures; professional development funding and opportunities that are uniform across all academic departments and on par with their tenure-track faculty colleagues.
In June, Skidmore administration unilaterally and unlawfully implemented a 3% general salary adjustment to NTT faculty salaries without negotiating the increase with the union, which filed an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board. Despite this, the administration continues to insist on this 3% increase and claims that anything beyond that would negatively impact the College’s finances, despite the fact that the College has balanced its budget on the backs of precarious, underpaid NTT faculty for years.
Furthermore, the College’s own proposals - and loose agreements made between the College and the Union at recent bargaining sessions - would memorialize administrative service expectations to their academic departments and the College. While the Union is amenable to accepting this proposal, as it currently stands, the College’s insulting proposal reflects an expectation of additional work for no additional pay.
“I am exhausted from constantly having to fight to defend my self-worth, my specialized experience, my education, my intelligence, and my morale—along with the basic expectation that faculty, the heart of any institution, deserve to be treated equally,” said Casey Gray, Lecturer and Private Lesson Instructor in the Music Department. “That’s why I’m joining with my colleagues and our students to demand the Skidmore administration stop stalling and to work in good faith with us towards a fair first contract.”
Pete Murray, Teaching Professor in Philosophy, added, "I got involved in our union because Skidmore's NTT faculty have been systematically undercompensated for decades, strung along on short-term precarious contracts, and not had a voice on campus to effectively address these issues. Our union is that effective voice, and we have persuaded the Administration to agree to less precarious employment for NTT faculty. Now we need the Administration to work with us to fix the undercompensation of NTT faculty at Skidmore."
Skidmore Faculty Forward members were joined by their students, tenure-track faculty colleagues, and other community allies who also urged the College to bargain in good faith with their union towards a first contract.
“When we, as students, arrive at Skidmore, our non-tenure-track faculty are among the first to guide and support us. They play a crucial role in shaping our futures, providing knowledge, mentorship, and unwavering dedication. Despite their essential contributions, these educators face precarious contracts, inadequate pay, and insufficient recognition,” said Ruth Wilson, a sophomore at Skidmore College and Sociology major and Intergroup Relations minor. “We stand in solidarity with our NTT faculty because the Skidmore community must do better than overlooking the voices of those who form its foundation. We must ensure they are fully heard and that the administration listens and takes action to meet their core demands.”
David A. Banks, Lecturer of Geography & Planning and Officer for Contingents United University Professions (UUP) Chapter of University at Albany, SUNY, added, "At UAlbany we have only netted 12 new tenure track faculty since 1995. In those same 30 years we added over 400 NTT faculty. This will only change when contingent faculty change the calculus for the administrators and that's exactly what our union siblings at Skidmore are doing right now. They deserve a fair bargaining session."
Non-tenure-track faculty at Skidmore College voted overwhelmingly in September 2022 to join SEIU Local 200United, as part of its statewide Faculty Forward organizing project launched in 2014. Since the campaign launched, thousands of faculty and graduate student workers have joined SEIU, including faculty at Fordham University and Siena College and graduate workers at Syracuse University.
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Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 200United represents thousands of higher education workers at over 30 colleges and universities across New York and Vermont, including non-tenure-track faculty at Skidmore College, Siena College, and SUNY Schenectady County Community College in the Capital District.
Press coverage:
https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/skidmore-college-non-tenure-track-staff-file-19976059.php
