CUCFA Statement in Support of UC Lecturers 12-10-2019

The statement below was posted to the CUCFA website on December 10, 2019. It was sent to Janet Napolitano and UC Academic Senate Chair, Kum-Kum Bahvnani, and it was read aloud by Constance Penley in our bargaining session at UCSB.  Thanks and gratitude to our senate allies who are standing up to UC administrators in our fight for faculty equity and student success!

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The Council of UC Faculty Associations (CUCFA) recognizes that the teaching excellence of UC depends in no small part on lecturers, who teach many of our courses (in one UC campus study, more than 40%, in terms of student credit hours).

Lecturers, represented by the University Council-American Federation of Teachers (UC-AFT), are currently engaged in bargaining over their next contract. Lecturers are essential members of UC’s faculty and community and carry out their duties with energy, dedication, and professionalism. Sharing a commitment to teaching excellence on campus, we support the lecturers’ calls for higher wages and stability of employment. CUCFA urges the University, in its negotiations with UC-AFT, to recognize, respect, and reward the vital contributions that lecturers make to our campus community.

The work conditions of the lecturers matter to us as faculty every day. We teach the same students, and if lecturers are better supported to do that work well, we all benefit. We want to make sure that UC negotiators are taking the lecturers’ contract proposals for improving their working conditions seriously, and thus their ability to serve students. Keeping more than a third of our teaching faculty in precarious working conditions does not benefit any department’s teaching mission.

We urge all CUCFA members to pay attention to these proceedings and support lecturers.

Constance Penley, Council of UC Faculty Associations President

Claudio Fogu, Council of UC Faculty Associations Vice President of External Relations

cc: President, University of California, Janet Napolitano
Chair, UC Academic Senate, Kum-Kum Bhavnani
President, UC-AFT, Mia McIver