Why aren't we EDMC employees unionized? I know we are allowed to have a union. Wouldn't a union protect us from a ton of shit that goes on at EDMC?
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I was able to download the union contract for the Philadelphia AI from online. I know it was a current one since it went to 2016. It guarintees limited contact hours for full-time faculty, office space, etc. Even though there is supposedly no retribution for things along with organizing, upper management will find ways to get rid of the "trouble-makers". If they were smart, they would read the one union contract and make sure all of the schools (on-ground and not) matched the terms and hold to them. That way, it keeps the union out. As it is in Michigan, unions are more trouble than they are worth.
A couple of onground AIs are unionized on the east coast. I've read their newsletters online, you can find them if you search hard enough. Frankly unions aren't as powerful as you might think, it's not like the old days, or even like it might be onground at a public school. The only thing I see them doing is protecting adjuncts, perhaps trying to make sure seniority counts when getting classes. Maybe stepping in to be sure performance reviews are done fairly. But I don't think you'll find strikes for higher wages, and definitely they'd be powerless during layoffs. And I doubt as well they'd have much say as far as workload, higher student caps, etc. So a ton of shit? Nope. But at least there'd be more of a sense of community, and a few things might get addressed. and that's something. A community voice is always listened to more seriously than a bunch of isolated complaints. Keep in mind that although management has issues in some areas, they are probably pretty savvy when it comes to making a case for a non union environment. They spend tons on legal. They'd make it very hard to organize and very unpleasant for a few that would sacrifice their jobs organizing, regardless of law.