EMUFT President Sonya Alvarado’s Speech to the EMU Board of Regents

EMUFT President Sonya Alvarado’s Speech to the EMU Board of Regents Regarding the New Pay Schedule for Part-Time Lecturers, 10/7/2014

Good Afternoon President Martin, Chairperson Parker and Board Members, my name is Sonya Alvarado, president of the Eastern Michigan Federation of Teachers. I am here to bring to your attention the difficult situation that the part time lectures face because of your decision to change their pay schedule from 8 to 7 paychecks with a later start date of September 30^th.  This means that in September, unlike all other instructional staff on our campus, part time lecturers have to wait a month after starting work for their first check. This also means they now only get 1/7^th instead of 1/4^th of their contracted pay in September.  This treatment for the lowest paid employees on campus breaks your promise to EMUFT that you would correct the late pay problems and instead institutionalizes a late pay date. This is unacceptable not only to the employees that you are harming but also to students, alumni, and the larger community.  It is a shame that many of our members, professional teachers with excellent credentials, are having to borrow money from their parents and friends to pay bills or even decide between whether to pay a bill or buy groceries for their children. We did not want to take action on this; however, you have forced us into this situation in order to be heard.

With this said, I will let our supporters speak for themselves.  The a following quotes are from the comment section to the over 1700 signatures we have gathered online and in person:

 I am signing because I am an EMU Alum and this is shameful!

• Former Presidential Scholar
• B.S. Communication & Theatre Arts, 2008

 As an EMU grad and active alumnus, I am very disturbed by the actions of my alma mater toward Part Time Instructional Staff. This past April, I returned to EMU for the National Forensic Association's Championship Tournament, and visited with some of my favourite teachers from my undergraduate days, many of whom are impacted directly by this situation. Knowing they are being treated so poorly makes me feel ill. For years, I have defended and supported EMU, but this is simply deplorable behaviour on the institution's part.B.S. Communication & Theatre Arts, 2008

 As an alum of EMU, it's extremely important to me that the fantastic teachers who shaped my education and helped launch my career are compensated for the incredible job they do. If EMU won't pay them, you better believe I'll never donate to EMU.

 I work for EMU as a part-time lecturer and having 8 pay periods per semester has done wonders for my ability to pay bills. When I first started working here, it felt like I was finally working for a company that know how to take care of it's part-time lecturers. In addition to adding financial stress, this is kind of a (metaphorical) slap in the face.

 My daughter currently attends EMU. Her education is very important to me. Also I am a public school employee and I would hate to not be paid. Especially as educators we should never be put in a situation where teachers, professors etc are being taken advantage of like that.

 As an alumni if EMU, I am appalled by this. As an educator myself I cannot in good conscience encourage my students to attend a university that does this to its employees.

I can't ethically support with my tuition an institution if it can't meet the basic obligations towards it's staff. If this situation is not handled, I will look for a different educational institution to attend.

Finally,

I want to present to you the signatures collected on campus in a two day period from September 16 -17^th.  As you look over the signatures from people across almost every employment group on this campus, consider this final thought:

You must change the pay schedule back to where it was because teacher working conditions are student learning conditions, and students are why we are all here.