Some of them had been attending the DeLanda seminar at Canisius and commented on how beautiful the Canisius Campus is and asked me how much it costs to attend. I said I wasn't exactly sure but somewhere around $25,000. They were astounded and responded with you must make so much money. I laughed and then we started talking about our salaries. It turns out they make about $3600 to teach a class while Canisius adjuncts up until this year only made $1800 (since the union tried to form $2300). Let me mention that the adjuncts at UB with whom I spoke are new adjuncts and have not been teaching for years. I thought to myself well, I am not technically an ajunct. I mean my contract says multimedia specialist and get paid a lot more than if I was an adjunct teaching two classes each semester because I tutor students 10 hours a week in the web lab. But when you multiply the UB rate times 4 classes a year I am getting paid only slightly more than if I was just teaching the classes at UB with no other responsibility.
I have to say in defense of Cansius, that the work environment is significantly better. I have an office, my contract has been renewed 3 years in a row. There is serious hope for me becomming full-time once I complete my MFA and the staff and other faculty are extremely nice and a pleasure to work with. My classes are also smaller than at UB. One class I teach has 12 students while the other only has 16. So really I am not that upset with my pay and situation at the time. I am, however, a little disillusioned with this new letter I received from Herbert J. Nelson - Vice president for Academic Affairs at Canisius.
I was wondering what happend with the Union at Canisius. I hadn't heard anything since the pay increase. I do, however, remmeber receiving some letters from Canisius that made me feel like I should not join. I guess other people did too, so the union tried to charge the school with an unfair labor practices charge. Somehow, it fell through. According to Herbert Neslon, "the charge was, of course false and without foundation." Yet , I do remember feeling that I should not join. I wish I still had the original letter. At the time, I even had a talk with a full-time tenured faculty member in my department who told me to distance myself from it ASAP - or at least that is what he would do!
This week I received a letter from the Union asking me to sign up again (which I find to be really unorganized) , however, I also received a letter from Herbert Nelson explainign that Canisius has never intimidated anyone about this union issue and then closing the letter with an intimidating statement and now I am conflicted with what to do. What should I do?
