It has been four months since Howard University student protestors came to an agreement with the administration. Students protested an array of issues from housing conditions to lack of education resources. Now, the teaching faculty union is attempting to negotiate with the university’s administration.
The teaching faculty includes full-time non-tenure lecturers and master instructors. Members of the union plan to strike on March 23-25 if the university administration does not meet with them by Friday, March 18.
Faculty members are asking the administration to end the “seven year rule,” a cap of seven years faculty members can teach, for non-tenured faculty. They are also asking for multi-year contracts and for salaries to be raised. According to members of the union, faculty has not received a raise in five years despite there being a 19% increase in tuition. Adjunct members are asking for equal pay compared to faculty members, opportunity for full-time lecturer jobs and access to health care.
The union shared a flyer titled “Quick Facts about the Howard University Contingent Faculty Union Fight” via social media. The flyer lists the demands and facts about the ongoing wants of both groups. Jackson-Lewis, a Virginia labor and employment law firm, has been hired to represent the union.
“We were scheduled to meet with the leadership on March 18 but they have gone silent,” a spokesperson for the union shared at a rally. “We are left with no choice. We will be holding an unfair labor practice strike.”
The Howard University administration has not yet publicly responded.