The faculty members of Howard University have announced that they plan to go on a labor strike, WJLA reports. 150 non-tenure track full-time teaching faculty along with 200 adjunct professors, represented by SEIU Local 500, plan to walk out from March 23-25.
Over 500 university faculty members and students held a rally on Wednesday in full support of the strike and they aired out their issues with the school’s administration.
“The University leadership has made clear that a better teaching environment and better learning environment is unimportant to them,” Cyrus Hampton, Contingent Faculty leader and a professor in the English department said. “They have left us no choice but to strike because of their continued bad-faith bargaining.”
Some faculty members and alumni requested to meet with Provost Anthony Wutoh but campus police turned them away from entering the administration building. They wanted the provost to intervene in the negotiations to avoid the strike.
According to the contingent faculty, negotiations between the two sides have been going on for over three years.
"They are being paid the lowest of any of the universities in the D.C. area. This is personal to me as an educator," said Dr. Stephen Jackson, an alumnus of Howard.
“Despite how much [we] love teaching here, the difficult conditions make this job unsustainable,” Yael Kiken, a full-time non-tenure-track lecturer in the English department argued. “It is especially difficult to work here and raise a family. Our salary is too low to afford essential costs like childcare. Each year, we have to reapply for our jobs, meaning there is no guarantee we will have employment from one year to the next.”
In a statement, Howard University said it “remained diligent in our engagements with Union representation and consistent in our efforts to reach an agreement.” Adding the school is committed to “a peaceful bargaining process” that ensures faculty “have adequate support and resources while maintaining the highest quality of education possible for our students.”
“We have made proposals for wage increases for union faculty and continue to bargain in good faith,” the statement continued.
