Brooklyn College, other city colleges hit by adjunct layoffs
Union suing CUNY in federal court
Being an adjunct at a college can be risky. Adjuncts don’t have the tenure of professors, and they sometimes have to wait until the last minute to find out how many classes they’ll be teaching, and sometimes whether they’ll be teaching next semester at all.
Still, many department chairs and administrators consider them an essential part of their teaching staff, and some adjuncts have been teaching at the same college for more than 10 years.
This year, four times as many adjuncts as in a normal year will lose their health insurance because of layoffs or restructured cost assignments, according to the Professional Staff Congress, which represents adjuncts. Most CUNY adjuncts received the news by email on June 30.
The PSC is now suing CUNY in federal court, saying that the City University violated its obligations under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act by laying off thousands of adjunct faculty and staff, weeks after it was awarded $251 million in relief money, Bloomberg News reported. The PSC is seeking a preliminary injunction against adjunct layoffs and reinstatement of the laid-off employees.