Faculty members at The New School have been on strike since Wednesday, seeking to negotiate a new contract with the school administration.

Some 87% of the school staff is adjunct or part-time. Most are striking, and all five schools on the campus have shut down in solidarity.

Bargaining for more compensation and a more responsive grievance system began earlier this year, but workers say concerns arose in 2018 - and the pandemic delayed getting to the bargaining table.

Zoe Carey - president of ACT-UAW Local 7902, the union local that represents part-time faculty - said part-timers want wages that meet current high inflation levels.

"Contract negotiations were underway for a successor agreement, and then the pandemic hit," said Carey. "And so, part-time faculty agreed to a two-year contract extension, to preserve many of the rights that they had under the contract. But what they didn't get was any wage increases."

Carey said she isn't sure how long the walkout will last.

Both school and faculty negotiators met last Thursday, and have been able to work out certain issues, like curriculum input. But they're still working on other critical concerns.

A statement from The New School says the situation could be resolved with the support of a mediator.

Carey added that other people on campus have been supportive of the part-time faculty's walkout.

A student-led workers' rights group, called Student Faculty Solidarity, has been organizing events to support them.

Seeing this kind of backing, Carey said, gives the instructors strength to continue their quest for a new contract.

"Full-time faculty and students are showing up in droves on the picket line, along with part-time faculty," said Carey. "It's been a hard, long fight - and so, to see that much support from our community, when the university has disrespected part-time faculty for so long, it gives us the push. It really helps us keep going."

She noted that one important element of the compensation issue is that part-time staff is paid only for their time in the classroom.

Faculty negotiators are hoping the university will recognize the time they spend outside the classroom in their pay, as well.

More than 500 Missouri businesses are rallying for Proposition A, pushing for a $15 per hour minimum wage and paid sick leave by 2026.

Backed by the group Missouri Business for a Healthy Economy, Proposition A plans to raise the minimum wage to $13.75 an hour next year and $15 by 2026, with additional annual cost-of-living adjustments. Tipped workers must earn at least half the minimum rate, plus tips.

Andi Montee, owner of the Mokaska Coffee Shop in St. Joseph, believes the wage increase would enhance Missouri's appeal.

"Having that standard and that security is just really important for people to look at Missouri for one as a place where they could live, where they could stay," Montee asserted. "Especially for young people who often times want to kind of move outside of the places they might have grown up in."

Not everyone is on board with the increase. Business groups like the Missouri Chamber of Commerce warned higher wages and required paid sick leave could increase costs, leading some businesses to cut staff, reduce hours or raise prices.

Despite the concerns, Missouri's minimum wage keeps rising, set at $12 in 2023 and adjusted to $12.30 in 2024. Montee believes higher wages for employees benefit employers as well.

"We will fight tooth and nail to keep our staff kind of working there, because training somebody is difficult, it costs money and it has all kinds of things that pop up in the long term," Montee outlined. "We feel pretty strongly that having that higher minimum wage is really a mutually beneficial thing."

Still, critics of the increase do not believe employers will benefit at all, contending it could harm young and entry-level workers, who might see fewer job openings as businesses face rising costs.


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A meeting last week between the Board of Education and its teachers' union in one Illinois town has left one group unhappy.

Members have voiced their displeasure with what it views as a lack of urgency in negotiations for better pay and more support. Contracts for the Meridian Federation of Teachers in Macon expired in August. Seventy teachers who are part of the bargaining unit have met with the board only six times since June.

Brian Pekovitch, teacher and president of the union, said they are seeking a resolution.

"We have another session planned with the mediator on Wednesday," Pekovitch noted. "We're very hopeful that we will be able to resolve these differences and come to an agreement to avoid a strike. That's the absolute last resort that we want to have happen."

Ninety-two percent of voting members of the union agreed last week to authorize a strike if more substantial progress is not made. The district has had difficulties even attracting substitute teachers for the school year. According to the education site niche.com, Macon County's teacher-to-student ratio is 14-1.

Pekovitch praised the support of parents and argued teachers are shouldering more than what their job description requires, which is taking a toll. He acknowledged teaching has changed from pre-pandemic days causing classrooms to struggle to meet students' needs. The union wants teachers to stay in the district and not seek higher salaries elsewhere.

"Our biggest thing has been just teacher retention," Pekovitch explained. "There's a problem with our pay when you're looking at teachers that have longevity in the district. Once you've been here longer, if you have higher education, there's just some gaps in there that we're trying to close to keep our more experienced teachers here."

Niche.com indicates the average teacher salary in the district is around $56,000. Pekovitch added the mindset that nice schools and newer technology alone would attract people to want to be in Macon "is just not the case anymore." The Meridian Community Unit School District serves a little more than 900 students in grades pre-K through 12.


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People in Arizona who have completed a registered apprenticeship program could see an average of an almost 50% increase in earnings, according to a recent report by the Senate Joint Economic Committee.

Joann Bueno, director of the state apprenticeship program for the Arizona Department of Economic Security, said people in the Grand Canyon State who are in a registered apprenticeship program start off at a certain wage but are guaranteed increases throughout the duration of their program. Bueno pointed out registered apprenticeship programs provide paid employment, on-the-job training and continued learning, all with little to no school debt.

"It is a program that pretty much moves everyone forward," Bueno explained. "Whether it is upskilling them, giving them added knowledge to become more skilled, it is also launching them into a better career pathway and a quality of life."

Bueno noted she has spoken to many Arizonans who have completed registered apprenticeship programs who call it "transformative." While most apprenticeship participants are white and male, Bueno stressed Arizona is making progress when it comes to recruiting more women and people with disabilities.

Bueno emphasized the programs are aiming to fill jobs in manufacturing, construction, education and added the state is getting closer to developing programs to respond to the critical needs of the health care industry.

"Hopefully, we could get to Alabama status," Bueno said. "Alabama right now has recognized registered nursing apprenticeships as an alternative pathway to being a registered nurse and there is such a need for those."

Bueno observed Arizona universities and community colleges are "banding together" with industry to be able to get there. The department is also working to diversify the pathways for people to become teachers, hoping to reduce the shortage. The new apprenticeship program is scheduled to be up and running in a matter of months.