Saint Rose adjuncts file to form union

PHOTOGRAPHER: Haley Viccaro

College of Saint Rose adjunct professors announced Thursday that they filed to form a union with Adjunct Action, a project of Service Employees International Union.

About 180 professors at the Albany school are pushing for better benefits, like their full-time counterparts. The adjuncts are also urging the college to provide opportunities for full-time employment and fair wages.

“We are excited to join with other adjunct professors across the country who are organizing to win a voice on their campus and in their classrooms,” said Bradley Russell, an adjunct instructor of anthropology at Saint Rose. “I am extremely gratified to see the robust support this organizing effort has received from my fellow adjuncts, full-time faculty and the public.”

At the same time, adjunct professors at Northeastern University in Boston and Howard University in Washington D.C. recently formed unions with Adjunct Action.

The adjunct instructors at Saint Rose will meet with the National Labor Relations Board, which will assign a date from the union election.

“This is a very exciting and proud moment for me and my fellow Saint Rose adjuncts,” said Brian Cirmo, an adjunct instructor of art at Saint Rose. “We are hopeful that our hard work can lead us forward to a productive discourse with the administration.”