Second-class Professors [View all]
Most of the teachers in US colleges and universities today do not have tenure, or even the prospect of gaining tenure. They can look forward to tiny, if any, pensions when they retire. They don't hold office hours because they don't have offices. They get no pay if they get sick. In short, they enjoy practically no benefits.
They are called "adjuncts" or "lecturers", not to be confused with the tenured or tenure-track faculty. Their pay is so low that even if they teach a full load, they can't make ends meet. Often they teach at more than one school, which requires long commutes between classes. Some are on food stamps.
Administrators see adjuncts as cheap labor to be exploited for the benefit of the university.
Having once been an adjunct brands a teacher as second class and unworthy of serious consideration for a tenure-track job. Few will ever make it into the academic middle class.
Do these people need a union?
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