September 19, 2019 – Santa Fe College adjunct faculty members have voted against joining the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).
SEIU filed a petition in December 2018, seeking to represent the college’s adjunct faculty, and an election was held from Aug. 23 – Sept. 19. The Public Employee Relations Commission (PERC) reported today the vote was 257 to 167 against joining the union.
SF President Dr. Jackson Sasser said that he is grateful that adjunct faculty expressed a preference to work directly with the college instead of through a third party. The College looks forward to working with all adjunct faculty.
“I would like to thank our adjunct faculty members for their thoughtful and careful deliberations in arriving at this important decision that will have a lasting effect on our college,” Dr. Sasser said. “My observation and belief based on years of experience is that no outside group can speak for members of our faculty better than they can speak for themselves, either individually, or by participating with their Santa Fe colleagues in shared governance.”
President Sasser praised Santa Fe College employees for the respect they showed others throughout the process. “Our culture of open and shared communication has never exhibited itself more profoundly than during the last few months,” he said. “I have learned so much from our part-time employees, all of whom I hold in high regard.”