Lecturer Bargaining Update: Opening Remarks from Bargaining Team Manager Nora Krinitsky
Nora Krinitsky delivers opening remarks in a speech at Ann Arbor Bargaining Kickoff on 10/27, photo by Peter Brauer
Nora Krinitsky delivers opening remarks in a speech to crowd at Ann Arbor Bargaining Kickoff on 10/27, photo by Peter Brauer
Bargaining Team Manager Nora Krinitsky delivered her opening statement at bargaining on Friday, October 27th. You will find a transcript of the statement below. Bargaining will take place nearly every Friday, with the next session on November 10th on Dearborn Campus. Members: be sure to register for bargaining and come in person or online!
Non-tenure track faculty–or lecturers–are so often referred to as precarious. Uncertain of our future, liable to be laid off at a moment’s notice, lacking the security of our tenured or researcher colleagues. It is a difficult position to be in, both professionally and personally. The ill-effects of precarious employment on individuals, families, and communities are well documented and include financial uncertainty, chronic stress and anxiety, and delayed or altered life plans.
The irony of this label and this precarious state of being lies in the fact that lecturers at the University of Michigan are far from being an uncertain component of the educational mission of the University of Michigan. We are foundational to it. Lecturers comprise about 20% of the faculty at this University and teach nearly half of all undergraduate student credit hours across three campuses. Our courses range from intimate seminars to massive lecture classes, from studio art courses to scientific labs, from introductory writing courses to advanced research colloquia. These educational offerings are the kind of thing that our campus tour guides brag about. They’re what draw students from across the country and across the globe. They’re what make a degree from the University of Michigan a sign of a world class education.
You will find that our contract proposals reflect this fundamental truth–that lecturers are the bedrock of the educational mission of the University of Michigan. We are master teachers and innovative pedagogues. We are skilled advisors and invaluable mentors. We are knowledge producers and experts in our fields. It is time for the University to recognize this fundamental truth and agree to a contract that reflects the value and integral role of lecturers at U-M.
Our contract proposals address four of the harmful effects of precarious employment identified by researchers: temporariness, disempowerment, vulnerability, and depressed wages. To address these ill-effects we will make proposals to improve job security, clarify work expectations and augment workload transparency, improve lecturer health and safety protections and strengthen protections against harassment, institutionalize lecturer voices in department and campus governance, offer lecturers the resources they need to care for their families and plan for the future, and provide lecturers with the livable salaries they deserve. We trust that these proposals will serve our mutual interest in maintaining the highest quality instructors and the best education possible at the University of Michigan.
Lecturers are here to stay and we deserve our fair share now.