In a testament to the saying “if you don’t vote, you can’t complain,” some 275 adjunct professors at Boston University may soon wish they had shown up to vote on whether or not to unionize with the Service Employees International Union.
According to In These Times, an election was held amongst Boston Univerity’s adjunct faculty. However, of the “more than” 750 eligible faculty members, only 477 actually voted—allowing the SEIU to win with only a minority (43%) of total eligible voters actually voting to unionize:
Boston University adjunct faculty voted to organize on February 4, continuing a string of victories for contingent faculty across the country and in Boston.
The vote, part of the Service Employees International Union’s (SEIU) Adjunct Action and Faculty Forward actions, saw overwhelming support from the adjuncts, with 319 votes for and 158 against—a margin of almost 2-to-1 in favor. The vote will affect a total of more than 750 instructors. [Emphasis added.]
Since Massachusetts is not a Right-to-Work state, the SEIU will be legally able to negotiate a contract that requires all 750 adjuncts to pay fees to the union or be removed from their positions.
