Dear Colleagues:
On Sunday, UUP’s new television ad spotlighting our adjuncts began airing across the state.
Titled “Ph.D.,” the ad focuses on the qualifications of SUNY adjuncts and calls attention to the poverty-level salaries of SUNY adjunct faculty. The ad emphasizes SUNY’s overreliance on adjuncts, who struggle to earn a living wage.
We are very proud of the work that our adjuncts do and we wanted very much to share that publicly. But we also wanted to publicize the plight of adjuncts—these exploited workers are underpaid, overworked and without job security. SUNY adjuncts deserve far better than this and we, as a union, will continue to work for better salaries and working conditions for our members, using all possible avenues to obtain more leverage in the context of rising public awareness about the plight of adjuncts.
The ad is running on cable television systems in the Capital Region, Buffalo, Long Island, Syracuse and Ulster and Dutchess counties. It will air for two weeks, ending on Jan. 23.
Three SUNY adjuncts— Bentley Whitfield of Farmingdale, Rebekah Tolley of Albany and Oneonta, and Bill Lee of Cortland—appear in the 30-second TV spot; they talk about their academic qualifications and experiences on camera. An announcer follows with the union’s concerns.
“Nearly one-in-three highly qualified SUNY faculty are adjuncts. Many paid so little, they struggle to make ends meet. Yet students pay more than ever before. SUNY adjuncts deserve better.”
The campaign’s goal is to raise public awareness of the precarious situation adjuncts face and to generate support for pay increases and improved working conditions.
You can view the ad and a press release about the ad on UUP’s website, at http://uupinfo.org/communications/uupdate/1516/160111.php. You can also view it on YouTube, at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOeGk9SS7DQ.
In Solidarity,
Fred