NEW DEAL ON PART-TIME HEALTHCARE EQUITY PROJECT
WHEREAS, healthcare is a fundamental human right; and
WHEREAS, healthy faculty make for better student learning conditions; and
WHEREAS, part-time contingent higher education faculty make up approximately 79 percent of the temporary academic gig economy; and
WHEREAS, many part-time higher education faculty have little or no job security and suffer from lack of parity in pay, retirement, healthcare benefits (including vision, mental and dental), as well as other union-negotiated contract rights; and
WHEREAS, many states are lacking state incentive programs for community college districts or higher education institutions to offer health insurance for part-time faculty; and
WHEREAS, 25 percent of part-time, contingent or adjunct faculty rely on public assistance, and the lack of healthcare and health insurance is one of the major contributors to poverty and homelessness in America:
RESOLVED, that the American Federation of Teachers will start a New Deal on Part-Time Healthcare Equity Project to support local unions across America, campaign for, and achieve part-time faculty health insurance access and coverage; and
RESOLVED, that the AFT will support efforts to establish tax incentives and permanent healthcare programs for part-time faculty, their spouses and their dependents, to defray costs of programs not funded by their employers or states.
Adopted 9/29/2022
(2022)