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NEWS & LETTERS, MAY 2003
Lemoyne-Owen fight
Memphis, Tenn.-- The Faculty Organization at
historically Black LeMoyne-Owen College came into existence around 1968. We met
independently of the administration to talk about employment conditions. In 2000 a number of employees with up to 25 years in,
none of them faculty, were laid off. It was scary. We view ourselves not only as
a community, but as a family. What alarmed us was that we had no knowledge
of it until it occurred. That began a series of attempts to become involved in
decision-making at the college. After 2000, we were told there were going to be budget
cuts. At this time there was no union, we were just a discussion group. So we
hired a lawyer to advise us. We felt we needed a structure so that, no matter
who the president was or what the composition of the board was, we would have
shared governance. We successfully petitioned the National Labor Relations
Board for official status as the collective bargaining agent for the faculty. In
September 2002, we voted overwhelmingly in support of the Faculty Organization
as collective bargaining agent. Now the Faculty Organization is a union affiliated with
the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) through its Collective
Bargaining Congress--AAUP chapters that are unionized on college and university
campuses. The NLRB said that we met the criteria for being the collective
bargaining agent for the faculty. Lemoyne-Owen has lost five appeals, the latest a summary
judgment this January. LeMoyne-Owen was ordered to recognize our faculty
association, but they refuse to do so. Now the Labor Board has taken LeMoyne-Owen
to court in Washington, D.C. so that it can enforce the order. Our issues have little to do with salary. Our main
concerns center on not wanting to be in the dark as it relates to major
decision-making that affects faculty and staff. When you understand the relationship between the Civil
Rights Movement and the labor movement you have to ask how can LeMoyne-Owen take
a stand against collective bargaining? Last month we commemorated the murder of
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. It was when Dr. King came to Memphis that those two
movements coalesced. There is a picture of Hollis F. Price shaking hands with
Martin Luther King Jr. on our campus. Civil rights meetings were held here. How
can we afford not to stand with an effort to organize? To contribute to our legal fund, you can send funds to:
Faculty Organization of LeMoyne-Owen College, c/o Dr. Cheryl Golden, 807 Walker
Ave., Memphis, TN 38126. Soon we'll have a website accessible through http://www.aaup.org/issues/HBCU/index.htm,
where concerned individuals can respond to a petition of support of the Faculty
Organization. --Dr. Cheryl Golden |
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