Part-time lecturers were petitioning to be paid at the same time as full-time lecturers in Pray-Harrold today.
“It’s becoming such a burden, a lot of part-time lecturers have to get a second job,” said Zachary Jones, a part-time lecturer in the geology department.
Part-time lecturers at Eastern Michigan University have struggled since 2011 to obtain a consistent pay schedule. Before a union contract, hundreds of them were paid late every semester.
“There is no change in total pay for the semester,” Geoff Larcom, executive director of media relations at EMU, said in an emailed statement. “Everyone is receiving his or her full pay. Instead of receiving their pay over eight pay periods, the part-time lecturers now receive their full pay over seven pay periods.”
Larcom said the university “greatly values” its part-time lecturers.
“Our number one priority is to ensure that all part-time lecturers are paid accurately and reliably throughout the year,” he said.
After formally requesting these late paychecks be rectified, the university began to address this issue. By June 2013, after a union contract was formed, the number of late paychecks significantly decreased.
The following month, Provost Kim Schatzel communicated to EMU Federation of Teachers that EMU was changing the part-time lecturer pay schedule. Instead of being paid on the 15 and the 30 of each month, EMU would be delaying the first paycheck of each semester to the last payday of the month.
“This change in pay schedule was undertaken to ensure a high degree of payment accuracy and reliability throughout the year,” Larcom said. “It particularly addresses the challenges during the beginning weeks of the semester, when student enrollment and therefore part-time lecturer assignments tend to shift as class sizes are established.”
EMUFT rejected this pay proposal and continues to do so.
“I don’t think it’s right 600 people didn’t get a paycheck,” said Tiaja Wynn, a sophomore at EMU.
The university is not complying with the federation’s wish to be paid at the same time as full-time lecturers. That is why EMUFT set up in Pray-Harrold to present the issue to students and faculty and get a petition going.
Coming off of a summer of not getting paid and then not receiving a check on the 15 is making it hard. “People are scrambling to pay bills,” Sonya Alvardo, president of EMUFT, said in a statement.
Part-time lecturers stop working at the end of April and start again in September like most faculty. Full-time lecturers received their first paycheck yesterday, but part-timers have to wait until the Sept. 30.
The petition can be found outside of the Eagle Cafe in Pray-Harrold. The petitioners have been there since 10 a.m. today and will be back tomorrow. At noon they had already received 200 signatures.
