Invitation to Participate

Campus Equity Week 2003 (October 27-31) is a nationwide rally highlighting the exploitation of part-time faculty at community colleges and universities sponsored by the California Chapter of the Coalition of Contingent Academic Labor (cocal-ca.org).  In (your area), (the following colleges and universities) are planning activities spotlighting the productivity and adverse working conditions of  part-time college and university faculty for local legislators, community leaders, and business leaders.  Contingent higher education professionals worry about job security, governance participation, pay equity, and working conditions.  This year’s theme, (add your theme) “Real Teachers Deserve Genuine Respect,” encompasses their concerns.

California’s higher education institutions have over a twenty-year history of balancing tuition and state funding with institutional budgets by hiring contingent workers at drastically lower pay scales with inadequate or nonexistent benefits, not to mention no participation in intuitional governance. 

By garnering your support, the Coalition of Contingent Academic Labor and your constituent post-secondary educators wish to maintain the vitality, productiveness, growth, and superiority of California’s economy and educational system.  California’s economy cannot flourish without a fair and viable education system.   Contingent faculty, who possess the same qualification as full-time or tenure-track instructors teach fifty-percent of California’s post-secondary students, and there is no justifiable reason for contingent faculty to work at forty-percent salaries without benefits.

  Understanding the current economic conditions in California, contingent academic labor does not expect immediate change; however, understanding and acknowledging current problems are important steps.  I respectfully request a meeting with you to discuss the specific needs of contingent faculty and to invite you to participate in activities at (your local educational institutions) during the week of October 27-31.

 Thank you,

Copyright © 2003-2009 COCAL-CA
Last modified: 02/11/2009