OPPOSING THE ABUSE OF NON-PERMANENT TEMPORARY AND PART-TIME EMPLOYEESIN K-12 AND HIGHER ED

WHEREAS, a survey conducted by the AFT Paraprofessional and School-Related Personnel division found 100 percent of respondents reporting a dramatic increase over the last three years in the employment of non-permanent temporary and part-time employees (those working without employer-provided benefits and job security or tenure) in school districts, community colleges and other institutions of higher learning; and

WHEREAS, the survey also reports that full-time positions were lost as employers increased their use of these temporary and part-time employees as a low-cost alternative to full, adequate staffing; and

WHEREAS, the survey identifies office employees, paraprofessionals and custodial/maintenance as the three job groups most affected but also reported that faculty/teachers, transportation and food service had seen an increase in the use of temporary and part-time employees; and

WHEREAS, the AFT represents a significant number of employees in these job classifications and the employees working in these job classifications are vital to the success of the institutions that employ them; and

WHEREAS, replacing or eliminating a dedicated and skilled workforce committed to the students and community¾ with the basic job protections and benefits that provide stability and security¾ with a less-skilled and transient workforce with no connection to the community will have a negative impact on the quality of education and services provided by the institutions in which this workforce is employed; and

WHEREAS, this reduction in quality could result in a variety of problems, including increased costs due to high turnover of transient temporary and part-time employees; the diminished ability, compounded over time, to respond to the day-to-day operational challenges and crises facing these institutions and concerns about safety due to the uncertain background of transient part-time and temporary workers who are not subject to the same checks and balances as regular employees; and

WHEREAS, in addition to being detrimental to the institution, the students and the community, this situation has resulted in the creation of a disadvantaged class of employees subject to exploitation and abuse and lacking the basic rights, protections and benefits that all union members, and AFT members in particular, enjoy on their job; and

WHEREAS, this practice can also be a strategy by the employer to erode the membership of the union and weaken or eliminate the union currently representing permanent full-and part-time employees:

RESOLVED, that the AFT support its affiliates in the development and implementation of negotiations, political action and legislative strategies to mandate the full and adequate staffing that is necessary to provide the highest level of quality and service in the institutions in which our members work; and

RESOLVED, that the AFT support its affiliates in their efforts to prevent the abuse of all temporary and part-time employees by employers and work to develop legislative strategies to limit public employers' use of temporary and part-time employees without benefits and job security; and

RESOLVED, that the AFT support its affiliates' efforts to organize these employees when possible and provide them with the same benefits and protections enjoyed by other AFT members.