These days, it seems there’s no stopping the New York State United Teachers (NYSUT). Just months after its successful effort to organize adjuncts at Pace University, the state’s largest education union has brought together the adjunct faculty of Marymount College of Manhattan, who, on May 25, 2006, voted to unionize by an overwhelming 80 percent majority.

According to Peterson’s Four Year Colleges 2006, Marymount presently employs 234 adjuncts, or 74 percent of the college’s total faculty. Founded in 1936 as a two-year college, Marymount now offers a liberal-arts based curriculum and grants bachelor’s degrees in 16 major areas. In spite of its heavy reliance on part-time faculty, however, Marymount’s pay is reputed to be among the lowest in the area. In a June 1, 2006 press release, NYSUT affiliate, the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), quoted Marymount adjunct Joanne Schultz as saying, “The pay scale is very low….It’s a good idea to have some union representation to help with the bargaining.”

In an interview with the Adjunct Advocate, NYSUT organizer Daniel Esakoff explained that the drive to unionize at Marymount began as part of NYSUT’s ongoing drive to organize adjuncts at other New York State universities, such as Pace and Syracuse. While these efforts were underway, NYSUT organizers learned that adjuncts at the schools were also working at Marymount. Said Esakoff: “[We thought], ‘Okay, let’s follow these people to Marymount.’”

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