Unionised University of the Arts faculty prepare to strike after more than two years of contract negotiations

Faculty at the University of the Arts (UArts) in Philadelphia have held multiple events on campus recently to bring attention to their prolonged contract negotiations with management, which have been ongoing since March 2021.On 31 October, union members staged a public picket to mark three years since they voted to unionise with a 99% majority to become part of the United Academics of Philadelphia (UAP) Local 9608, a chapter of the American Federation of Teachers. According to the union’s Instagram account, the university’s leaders cancelled a bargaining session that had been scheduled for that day. The union announced on 9 November that it had established a strike fund and, on 20 November, members presented a letter with hundreds of signatures to UArts president Kerry Walk. According to the union, after the letter was delivered, the university agreed to include language that meets the union’s bargaining position of “not allowing the employer to terminate health insurance coverage during the life of the contract”.“My faculty colleagues and I feel increasingly devalued at University of the Arts as our contract fight drags into a third year,” Bradley Philbert, an adjunct professor of critical studies and member of the bargaining committee, tells The Art Newspaper. “But we’re also more engaged and energised than we have been at any point since winning our faculty union election in 2020. In negotiations, we’re asking for the first raises many of us have seen in our history with UArts, a pay scale to correct for years of inequality and small benefits increases—all to bring us closer to what other arts educators make elsewhere in Philadelphia.”A majority of UArts faculty are adjuncts, and there are a number of full-time professors who make only $59,000 per year. On average, adjuncts are paid $1,000 per credit ($3,000 per class); the UAP average is $1,600 per credit. In addition, adjuncts are not provided with healthcare benefits. Thus far, the union has filed five charges against UArts of unfair labour practices with the National Labor Relations Board.“Negotiations went extremely slowly for the first couple of years, but we have made some progress,” says Nick Embree, a professor of theatre design and member of the union’s bargaining committee. “The important remaining sticking points include making sure all adjunct faculty members get some sort of raise, protecting faculty healthcare and retirement benefits from reductions or elimination, and getting a better wage system in place for the union membership—we are actually very close on the last one.”In an emailed statement, a spokesperson for UArts writes: “Throughout this fall, University of the Arts has remained engaged in regular productive meetings with representatives of our faculty union. Together, we continue to make encouraging progress and are optimistic that we will reach an agreement soon. We value our faculty and staff and all that they contribute to the university community.”