COVID-19 has already provided the rationale for some previously unimaginable social changes, but here’s a new one: union busting.
In a statement released by the 140-member union, FAC chair Angelo Bonadonna says the faculty are facing “disenfranchisement” and “the complete degradation of our mission and values.”
That was 2013, but the legal battle that Duquesne was waging at the time to keep its miserably paid adjuncts from unionizing is still making its way through the federal courts. In January, an appeals court ruled that the National Labor Relations Act (and the right to form unions) does not apply to any faculty at nonprofit schools operated by religious groups. An exception the National Labor Relations Board had tried to make for colleges that have a religious affiliation but are, in practice, relatively secular (and for nontheological faculty), was negated.
So are the professors rising up in unison to object? Not exactly: senate president Karen Wood responded to an interview request with this emailed comment: “The unanimous decision of the Board of Trustees, who have ultimate responsibility for all acts of the University, provides for no longer recognizing the faculty affairs committee. As Faculty Senate President, my job is to support the continued functioning of our University for the benefit of students, faculty and staff. I intend to do my best to ensure that all faculty have voice and input into the future direction of this University by engaging in any and all activity to further both the University mission and faculty concerns.”
