On Wednesday, February 25, 2015, United Faculty and Academic Staff of UW-Eau Claire (American Federation of Teachers, local #6481) will be sponsoring a community display of support in commemoration of National Adjunct Walkout Day.
In solidarity with all of the instructional and non-instructional academic staff who will lose their jobs, at UWEC and throughout the state, as a result the proposed $300 million cut to the UW System, UWEC faculty, staff, and students will be wearing black armbands this Wednesday.
While UWEC does not use the term “Adjunct” in any official description of any of its instructional staff positions, it does employ many of its instructional and non-instructional academic staff as contingent laborers, with limited term contracts. As such, these individuals are essentially “adjuncts”, and they maintain the least job security and receive the lowest levels of compensation of all academic workers. Moreover, proposed cuts to the UW System will cause substantial numbers of staff on limited–term contracts at all UW campuses to lose their jobs.
As a whole, colleges and universities across the United States rely heavily upon adjunct staff. Adjuncts long have been and will continue to be the first group of workers to lose their jobs in response to budget cuts at the colleges and universities where they work. These are people who make indispensable contributions to their institutions, do most of their work directly with students, and are already the least recognized and appreciated for so doing.
Community residents interested and willing to join in showing solidarity are encouraged to do so. On this same day, faculty, staff and students across the country will come together and stage solidarity events to insist on fair wages and better working conditions for adjunct staff.
For more on National Adjunct Walkout Day:
http://chronicle.com/article/Its-Time-to-Review-Your/190035/
https://www.facebook.com/pages/National-Adjunct-Walkout-Day/340019999501000