A Tale of Two Adjuncts

A Tale of Two Adjuncts

Anonymous
29 years at MCC

Adjunct Before Union
Long before there was an adjunct union a full time colleague required emergency surgery and was unable to finish the last 3 weeks of his classes.  As an adjunct I was asked to cover one of them at the magnanimous rate of $20 per contact hour which was the sub rate back then. Since I was actually teaching the class, and not merely proctoring an exam or showing a film which was customary for subbing adjuncts then and now, I requested that I be paid my higher adjunct rate, rather than the sub rate.  Administration agreed but the paperwork got fouled up somehow and I was shorted about $300 in sub pay – no small sum, especially for an adjunct. I proceeded to make a series of phone calls to HR and payroll to clear up the problem. Evidently in the process I had stepped on more than a few bureaucratic toes at which point the full time colleague I had subbed for called me at home and asked me what the problem was.  I tried to explain. At this point I realized before I ruffled any more feathers I would drop the matter and the shortage was never paid. Que sera, sera! It was an environment of fear that inspired 80% of the voting adjuncts to support the creation of a union when the opportunity came in 2003.

Adjunct After Union
After MCC adjuncts had established a union, I was once again shorted some sub pay and after a quick inquiry to my union rep and after providing some additional paperwork to HR the shortage was paid by the next pay cycle.  Had there been no union I have no doubt that the second scenario would have ended like the first. For those who ask the perennial question: “What does the union do for me?” they must remind themselves that sometimes “it’s not what the union gives us but how they advocate for us too!”