GREENWICH VILLAGE — The New School's part-time faculty is at loggerheads with the administration over a new contract.
The teachers — who are members of a union called ACT (Academics Coming Together), part of United Auto Workers Local 7902 — rallied on 13th Street and Fifth Avenue Monday morning to protest the school's latest contract offer, which they said attempts to take away their benefits entirely.
Lynne Levin, a fashion and fine arts professor at the school, said they've had tense negotiations in the past, with controversial "givebacks" demanded by the administration, but "not like this."
"Eighty percent of our faculty are part-timers," explained Levin, who said she has worked at the university for more than two decades. "They want to give us a very measly increase — less than 1 percent — and they're trying to take away the benefits that we won through our negotiations in the past."
Warren Bradley, also a 20-year veteran of the school's fashion studies program who was marching alongside Levin in a picket line, said, "We're the backbone, and they're treating us very unfairly in this time when everybody needs health care."
The previous contract expired on Aug. 31, 2014, but was extended by mutual agreement between the union and the school, according The New School's website. The extension expires at the end of March.
"We deeply respect our part-time faculty and are working hard with our union partners to reach a fair and responsible new contract," a university spokeswoman said. "We have made good, recent progress with ACT-UAW on a new agreement and look forward to continuing these discussions."
The school's website says the administration put a new offer on the table March 11 that was closer to what the union wanted, with salary increases and health benefits, as well as no change in eligibility requirements.
The next bargaining meeting is scheduled for Monday, March 23, according to the school's website.
Union members say the wage increases being offered by the university are "minuscule," and they are accusing the administration of union-busting. Along with wage increases and health-care benefits, the union wants to change the school's teacher-evaluation process, demanding greater job security and increased compensation for teaching online courses.
Students, both graduates and undergraduates, marched in the picket line as well.
"Some of the most influential professors I've had here are part-time faculty," said Robert Giordano, 22, an undergraduate in the fashion design program. "I think it's just ridiculous what our school is doing to them."
Natasha Lewandrowski, 29, a grad student in the Parsons design and technology program, added, "My department hires a lot of alumni, so this applies to my friends, and it could apply to me next year."
Meanwhile, the union at nearby New York University, the only recognized grad student union at any private university in the country, recently secured a historic contract offer.
Their members expect to vote on the contract in the coming weeks.
