Adjuncts Win the Right to Get Sick

by Jack Longmate

IN WASHINGTON STATE, 2SSB 6811 will provide for “pro-rata sick leave” and leave sharing for part-time community college faculty. The bill, written by Senator Jeanne Kohl-Welles of Seattle,
passed the Senate by a vote of 49 to 1 (Feb 14) and the House 97 to 0 (Feb 29). While it must return to the Senate, its passage into law is virtually assured.

According to the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges, 24 of the Washington’s 28 community college districts already have adjunct sick leave policies in place; this bill will
ensure that all will. In testimony for the Senate Higher Education Committee, one adjunct criticized leave policies that exclude adjuncts, saying such policies “…would seem to imply that
part-time faculty do not have occasion or justification for illness, injury, bereavement, or emergencies. In short, such a policy treats part-time faculty as if they were not people at all.”

The sick-leave accrual and sharing provisions of the bill were praised by the Seattle Federation of Teachers President Lynne Dodson, who related instances of need by individuals, including one adjunct who had to return to class the day after undergoing surgery, another who, after being threatened by a student a knife-point, ended up taking an extended period off without pay because
of the ordeal. Dodson explained that in all cases, fellow instructors had leave that they were willing to share had they the means to do so.

The likely passage of 2SSB 6811 will be the second significant legislative action favoring part-time community college faculty in Washington State. During the last legislative session, the
legislature approved up to $20 million exclusively to fund an adjunct pay increase. To receive matching money from the state, each institution had to match at least at the 40 percent of the
state funds. Roughly one-third of the community colleges settled for a 100 match, another third for 70-80 percent, and the balance at around the minimum 40 percent.