By Joshua Phelps
The Scene staff
St. Louis Community College Board of Trustees voted to approve the first-ever adjunct union contract on April 26.
A 3 percent pay raise will be retroactive to Jan. 1, 2018. The contract will expire on June 30, 2020.
Beyond pay, adjuncts will have more job security and access to a 403(b) tax-sheltered annuity. They also will see changes in the course-assignment process and handling of personnel files and student complaints.
“Before, we had nothing,” said adjunct art professor Brett Williams. “Now we have a contract.”
Williams is a member of the bargaining committee of the Service Employees International Union, which represents adjuncts.
Adjuncts voted 188-15 to unionize in October of 2015. The SEIU bargaining committee spent two years in negotiations with college representatives.
Adjuncts voted 222-5 to approve the negotiated contract on Feb. 20-23. Williams sent an email to union members on April 27, notifying them that the STLCC Board of Trustees had approved it.
“This is the result of years of organizing for union recognition and fighting for a strong contract,” he stated. “It will ensure better pay and working conditions for years to come.”
Williams also stated that SEIU will be going back to the bargaining table the second week of May to fight for an additional raise for the 2018-2019 academic year.
“If recent teacher strikes across the country have shown us anything, it is that educators can make impressive gains in working conditions and resources for students if we use our strength in numbers and take bold action,” he stated.