San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI) adjunct professors ratified their first union contract on March 30.  The professors joined Local 1021 in 2014 to seek a voice on the job, collective bargaining rights and compensation commensurate with their contribution to the art institution.

The three-year agreement makes significant progress in job security, and the recruitment and retention of quality professors. Students will benefit too as their professors now enjoy the prospect of long-term, stable employment.

The contract is the culmination of over 3 years of organizing work by more than 100 adjunct faculty at SFAI. Elected officials, community leaders, students and alumni joined SFAI adjunct faculty in this hard-hitting campaign to improve teaching and learning conditions at both of its art school campuses in San Francisco.

“There were many who worked long and hard to bring this negotiation to a successful conclusion,” said Art Hazelwood, a bargaining team member and Print Department adjunct faculty member at SFAI. “We look forward to continuing the work, and enforcing the contract we’ve achieved.”

Also pointing out that the contract is a beginning, not an end, bargaining team member Carolyn Duffey, Interdisciplinary Studies Department adjunct faculty member, said, “We are pleased to go forward in a more equitable and secure environment for students and all faculty members at the school, as we will be able to prioritize the values of teaching and learning at SFAI.”

Thursday’s settlement marks the fifth union contract settled by adjunct professors among the seven private Bay Area colleges newly organized by Local 1021. Along with SFAI, SEIU 1021 has secured contracts for adjunct professors at California College of the Arts, Mills College, Saint Mary’s College and Dominican University of California, and is currently in contract negotiations with Holy Names University and Notre Dame de Namur University. These seven colleges and universities are members of SEIU’s national Faculty Forward campaign, which has organized thousands of adjunct faculty members from more than 40 colleges and universities across the country.