FURIOUS PART-TIME LECTURERS at the Open University in Milton Keynes, England, have forced their union to rethink a pay settlement they believe has sold them out. They are now engaged in an acrimonious dispute to oust their union’s officers.

The 7,700 associate lecturers are the OU’s public face throughout the United Kingdom, tutoring students and giving them phone and e-mail support. They are typically paid £3,200 ($5,676) to teach a nine-month course and many have other jobs in universities or colleges.

A pay modernization agreement negotiated with the OU by local officials of the Association of University Teachers was welcomed by full-time staff and featured in a full-page advertisement placed by the union in the Times Higher Education Supplement. It described the OU as “top of the class (commended).”

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