Adjunct faculty at Columbia College Chicago have voted to strike, the Columbia Faculty Union said in a statement Thursday, citing the administration’s decision to eliminate hundreds of already-enrolled classes, while increasing the size of other classes in an attempt to cut costs.
The college is continuing “to put profits above the needs of students, faculty and the institution,” the union said in the statement.
“The administration’s tactics not only devalue our students’ education at Columbia, but they lower academic standards and increase adjunct faculty workload,” Diana Vallera, professor of photography and president of the Columbia Faculty Union, said in the statement.
After a bargaining session Thursday morning that “unfortunately did not go well,” Vallera said the plan is to begin the strike Monday, which means participating faculty will be picketing and not teaching classes.
She said the administration could come back to the bargaining table before Monday and agree to a “fair deal” with the union to prevent the strike, but she doesn’t have high expectations.
“We’re hoping that we’ll be able to negotiate in good faith and get a deal that is going to protect all of us,” Vallera said.
Of the union’s approximately 600 members, 81% participated in the vote, with 88% voting to strike.
The union last went on strike in November 2017
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over wages and job security.Lambrini Lukidis, a spokesperson for Columbia College, said in a statement Thursday that the college is “disappointed” by the union’s decision to strike.
“We remain committed to good-faith bargaining with the union and hope union leadership will remain at the table with concrete proposals,” Lukidis said. “We are committed to minimizing impact on instruction where possible, and to protecting students’ academic progress while meeting our responsibilities to ensure the sustainability of the college to serve its students.”
She added that the school’s current administration has made $40 million worth of spending cuts, including eliminating 124 positions, many of which were on the administrative side.
“Now we must look at the instructional side and continue to look for additional administrative efficiencies as our board of trustees has directed the college to further address deficit,” she said in an email. “Accordingly, given some decline in enrollment, the college is adjusting its course offering and some class sizes.”
According to a page on the college’s website about the strike, the college and all campus buildings will remain open during a strike. Officials expect that classes taught by faculty members who are not part of the part-time faculty union will be held as normal.
Vallera said nontenure track faculty makes up around two-thirds of the teaching staff at the college.
Just as the adjunct faculty is committed to the students, she said, the students are committed to their teachers.
“Our students have been pouring out in support,” she said. “They see our working conditions directly impacting their learning conditions. We’re working together to say no. Enough is enough.”
Vallera said the hope is that the strike, which was a “difficult” decision, “will go fast.”