FAC Officers Write Letter in Solidarity with LIU Brooklyn Faculty

PDF of letter, addressed to Prof. Emily Drabinski, Secretary of the Long Island University Faculty Federation.

Full text of letter:

September 6, 2016

Dear Emily,

I write to you on behalf of the Executive Committee of the Faculty Affairs Council (FAC), the union for full-time faculty at the University of Scranton. We would like you to know that we fully support your efforts to resist the union-busting tactics of LIU administration in the course of your contract negotiations. An attack on any single union is an attack on unionization itself, and we are therefore grateful to you for having the courage to fight against this unprecedented lockout.

One of our approximately 300 faculty members is a proud graduate of LIU, and she is particularly distressed to hear about the ways in which the teachers in the LIU Faculty Federation are being treated. She has been actively encouraging our faculty members by means of social media to send letters through the AFT Activist calling for an end to the lockout. We are certain that many of your alumni across the country are spreading the word about your situation, which will no doubt lead to an outpouring of support for your cause.

Our membership recently endured a very difficult round of contract negotiations, so we are sympathetic to your plight. As you take to the streets today, please understand that, although we cannot be there beside you in body, we are there in spirit. The actions of your administration are not in the best interests of your students, and therefore all responsible academics must oppose them.

Michael D. Friedman, Chair

Faculty Affairs Council

University of Scranton