anupama (anu) jain

​Faculty unions should be a no-brainer-- as in, we need them. They are not a panacea for all ills, obviously, but what is? Any faculty member (with whatever level of alleged job security) would be a fool to think that collective bargaining is a worse deal than arbitrary decision-making by administration.  Without a union, faculty (individually AND collectively) have little to no recourse when bad administrative decisions are made that are not based on improving educational and research outcomes-- nor are they usually BACKED by sound research, such as the adjuntification of the professoriate for financial motives. Unless a faculty member is genuinely indifferent to the common good - and then I wonder if they should be in a profession focused on advancing knowledge - they need to support a union and then help to make that union as accountable as possible to faculty at their institution. I have been on the tenure track, I have been on 1-year contracts, I have been an adjunct (by choice)—seek out people with similarly diverse stories and I am certain one will conclude as I have.
 
--anupama (anu) jain, Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies