Welcome to Emerson College! AFEC-AAUP is the faculty union that represents adjunct faculty, protecting the rights of this group and collectively bargaining the contract that governs adjunct employment at Emerson.
The Union periodically sponsors group events and maintains an AFEC-AAUP Facebook page with links to articles of interest to adjunct faculty.
Our contract
AFEC-AAUP has negotiated four contracts on behalf of the adjunct faculty employed at Emerson College. In September 2019, AFEC-AAUP and Emerson signed a new, 5-year contract. Its terms are in effect with the Fall 2019 academic semester. The contract runs through June 2024.
The full contract (39 pages) is available as a PDF: 2019-2024 AFEC-AAUP contract. We will be adding a chart for the Steps to this document later.
Our new contract covers academic freedom, reappointment policies, salary and benefits including medical and dental plans, performance evaluation, grievance procedures, and faculty responsibilities. It also includes:
- A professional development fund of $15,000 annually, for adjunct faculty to apply for up to $1,500 reimbursement for travel costs and fees for conferences, workshops, and festivals.
- Tuition remission for eligible faculty for graduate classes and online classes.
- A transit subsidy benefit.
- A 403(b) retirement plan, starting in the Fall 2020 semester.
The Union can provide support if you need to speak to your department chair about a concern. When necessary, the Union will speak on your behalf to chairs, deans, and the president. When all else fails, adjunct faculty members have the security provided by legally binding grievance and arbitration procedures. The Union has, for instance, settled an arbitration case that got a member back pay and reimbursement for health care coverage.
Annual fees
No member of the bargaining unit is obliged to become a full member of AFEC-AAUP, but all adjunct faculty members are required to either join the Union or pay the financial core membership contribution. We won this employment requirement in our very first collectively bargained contract in 2004 and it is enforced now as a result of a successful 2010 membership drive.
In both cases the fee is $80 annually, paid as $40 each semester. This is among the lowest annual rates in Massachusetts for a teachers union. The provision does not require anyone to vote on Union proposals or to advocate for particular beliefs. Failing to either join the Union or contribute to the costs incurred representing you, however, makes you ineligible to be rehired in future semesters.
The last paragraph of your appointment letter notes that as a condition of employment at Emerson College you must either make a direct payment arrangement with AFEC-AAUP or sign a written authorization of an automatic dues deduction. There are three options for doing this and paying the $40 fee each semester for either membership or core membership contribution:
Option 1: Print out a Membership Form and Dues Deduction Authorization and mail it in. You only need to fill out the form ONCE. Union dues will then be deducted from your paycheck December 15 and April 15 of every semester that you are employed at Emerson College.
Option 2: Write a check for $40 each semester for your Union dues and mail it in. Your check must be received within a month of the start of the semester EVERY semester you are employed at Emerson College.
Option 3: Write a check for $40 each semester to pay for your financial core membership contribution but NOT join the Union. Your check must be received within a month of the start of the semester EVERY semester you are employed at Emerson College.
Please mail the Membership Form and Dues Deduction Authorization (or a check, made out to ”AFEC/AAUP”) to Brian McNeil, vice president of AFEC-AAUP, at his home address: 131 Glen Street, Somerville, MA 02145.
Getting involved
Participating in the Union is a great way to engage in your Emerson community. The successes of the AFEC-AAUP to date have come from the efforts of volunteers. Please contact Brian McNeil, vice president of AFEC-AAUP, at Brian_McNeil@emerson.edu to hear more. A union that includes many voices and perspectives is a strong one.