In response to your editorial (Sept. 8), “Inform Students of Unionization Plans:”Justice editors rightfully called attention to an important organizing effort underway among our faculty at Brandeis. While the editorial did a wonderful job of explaining the transparent and collaborative approach educators have taken in this process, it missed the mark slightly in stating that students are “indirectly affected” by the results of faculty unionization. The truth is, faculty working conditions are students’ learning conditions — and we are all directly impacted by the outcome.

 Here’s the deal: a significant portion of our classes are taught by non-tenure-track faculty (sometimes called “adjuncts” or “contract faculty”). In many ways, they’re the backbone of the educational experience at Brandeis from intro courses to the Transitional Year Program. We’d never know which professors are tenured, on the tenure track or not on the tenure track. Our tuition is the same, no matter which technical classification applies. But whether we realize it or not, non-tenure track faculty deal with significant challenges that affect us every day.

 For example, many educators work on semester-to-semester contracts, with incredibly uncertain and unpredictable schedules. That makes it almost impossible to serve as student advisors, provide guidance on a senior thesis or oversee an independent study. They frequently have to work multiple jobs at several different universities to make ends meet, which can make office hours and other student assistance outside the classroom difficult to schedule. Even those who hold longer-term contracts have little to no say in decisions made by University administrators that could affect student opportunities on campus. And these issues don’t even cover the challenges presented by low compensation or inadequate benefits among non-tenure-track faculty. As the Brandeis Labor Coalition stated in our article published in the Justice last semester, a union would allow non-tenure-track faculty to have a greater voice in their teaching conditions and would elevate their role in campus governance and the decisions that affect us all. Students understand that the core mission and strength of our University is in the classroom. And with the strong voice that faculty will win through unionization, we have a real opportunity to ensure our tuition dollars are prioritized to reflect that reality. That’s why our coalition has been so outspoken in our support for the Brandeis Faculty Organizing Committee — because students have a real, direct stake in the outcome of this effort. 

―—Divanna Eckels ’18, Aaron Goodwin ’18, Tamar Lyssy ’16 and  Mitchell Mankin ’16 are members of Brandeis Labor Coalition.