Temple Association of University Professionals, a union that represents 2,350 full and part-time faculty, librarians and academic professionals, hosted a rally at 13th Street and Polett Walk Tuesday to vocalize their demands for a new contract ahead of its expiration on Oct. 15.
From 2-4 p.m., hundreds of TAUP staff, faculty members and students gathered to listen to faculty, local politicians and union leaders discuss concerns surrounding current benefits and encourage the union to keep working through negotiations.
“Don’t we all deserve to work at a place that values those who make Temple work?” said Jeffery Doshna, president of TAUP. “Doesn’t every worker have the right to job security? We’ve been at the table for months, presenting our proposals that center job security, equity and dignity. We are fighting for a contract that makes sure that all of us, those who make Temple work, get what we deserve.”
Attendees summarized their demands by bringing signs, giving speeches and repeatedly chanting, “Equity, dignity and job security now!”
To TAUP, “equity” includes topics like increased transparency regarding the university’s overall budget and better paid sick and parental leave. “Dignity” means improved handling of discrimination cases and expanding the definition of protected groups.
“Temple’s economics are not working-class economics,” said Paul Grubb, lead negotiator for the clerical and professional and technical units at Temple. “Their world does not reflect, nor does it work in our world. In what world is a one or two percent wage increase justice?
Before negotiations began in August, Temple offered an 18-month extension to the current contract which was rejected by the union.
Esmeralda Soriano, director of community outreach for Temple University Graduate Students’ Association, said the university had many opportunities to do the right thing when negotiating with TUGSA during the Spring 2023 semester.
During those negotiations with TUGSA, graduate students went on strike for 42 days for increased pay and benefits.
“It’s always a choice,” Soriano said. “We make countless efforts to demonstrate our worth and our dedication to this university and to our students. Each step of bargaining had been completely ignored for our demands. They forced us to escalate rather than give us the contract. They have the same choice with TAUP today.”
Pennsylvania State Reps. Christopher Rabb and Malcolm Kenyatta, Councilwoman Kendra Brooks and candidate for City Council Nicolas O’Rourke also attended the rally to offer words of encouragement.
“I’m here, not just as a proud former adjunct professor, I’m here as a fancy state legislator,” Rabb said. “Some of these people [on the Board of Trustees] are trying to convince me that they’re my friends, because they want $150 million [in budget]. I’m reminding them that if they don’t take care of you, they are never going to take care of me.”
The rally was originally planned for outside of Sullivan Hall, where TAUP thought the Board of Trustees was meeting at 4 p.m. the same day. The board held their meeting at The Liacouras Center instead.
TAUP will be presenting more proposals for their contract on Wednesday. They’ve given non-economic demands to the board already, but haven’t gotten to wages and economic proposals, Doshna told The Temple News.
“This year, we’re reminding the board that they’re the ones who are making choices as to how to spend the money and if they want to focus on student experiences and meeting Temple’s mission as a public research university, the way to do that is to make sure that everyone who works in the classrooms and libraries get what they need,” Doshna said.
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