by D. J. Brasket

AFTER MORE THAN two years of struggle, part-time faculty instructors at Allan Hancock College, in California, won union representation by an overwhelming majority. Of the 315 part-timers who voted, 84 percent supported representation by the Communication Workers of America (CWA).

Although part-timers began organizing for union representation in 1997, they spent more than a year working toward inclusion in the full-time faculty union. Many full-time instructors supported the inclusion of part-time faculty, but a few were vigorously opposed, stalling inclusion long enough for part-timers to realize that belonging to the full-time faculty unit would not be in their best interest. Even the full-timers who supported inclusion, it turned out, could not support such important part-timer issues as pro-rata pay, seniority rights, and preference for full-time hiring. In addition, many full-time faculty opposed appointing three part-timers to serve on the eight-member Executive Board, and some feared giving part-time instructors a full vote (the ratio of part-time to full-time faculty at the college is currently 3:1).

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