The corps of non-tenured faculty who teach thousands of students at the University of California say they will return to classrooms this fall with the most job security and bargaining power they have ever had.

The union that represents roughly 2,700 full-and part-time lecturers and librarians at the state's premier university system is expected to ratify its new contract by the end of this week.

Job security -- even more than money -- was the central issue during the protracted negotiations that were interrupted by strikes and charges of unfair labor practices from both sides.

Union officials say their hard-fought contract will pave the way for lecturers fighting for better working conditions at universities across the nation. Newly unionized lecturers at the University of Michigan are likely to model their contract demands after the UC agreement as they gear up to hammer out a deal with administrators.

"It's a very solid contract," said Craig Smith, assistant director for higher education at the American Federation of Teachers union in Washington, D.C. "It will raise the bar for everybody."

UC's lecturers -- who estimate they teach one-third of the university's undergraduate courses -- have worked without a contract since June 2000. They began renegotiating with UC officials in April 2000 and for the first time since 1987, demanded retooling the entire contract.

Administration officials called the agreement fair and balanced, especially amid the prospect of deep state budget cuts to the 165,000-student, nine-campus system.

"We have a long-standing tradition of fairly compensating lecturers at the university and in doing so, recognizing the critical contributions that they make," said UC spokesman Paul Schwartz. "This contract is no different from prior ones in that."

In many cases, lecturers have been hired on a semester-to-semester basis and have had little, if any, guarantee that there would be a job for them a year down the road, said Kevin Roddy, president of the UC lecturers union and a medieval studies lecturer at UC Davis.

Those with six or more years could land a three-year appointment if UC officials labeled them as "excellent," at the end of a review process known as the "eye of the needle." After getting a three-year appointment, renewal was not guaranteed at the end of that period and lecturers could still be let go.

The new contract, however, guarantees that every lecturer with six or more years will be reviewed every three years with the expectation of a continuing, three-year appointment.

"That was huge for us," Roddy said. "That concession was UC saying to us, 'You are not just a temporary worker or vendor.' "

Still, lecturers who have taught fewer than six years won't have quite the same security as their more experienced counterparts. They will still be hired on a year-to-year basis, but the contract bars the university from laying them off as they near the six-year mark in order to hire cheaper, less experienced replacements -- a process known as churning.

The less-experienced lecturers did win a boost in starting salaries -- to $37,000 from $27,000 -- that will begin in 2005. In 2004, six-year lecturers will receive a modest starting salary boost, to $41,000 from $40,000.

The job security provisions in UC's contract could be replicated at the University of Michigan, where the lecturers union will open up negotiations with administration officials this fall.

"The UC contract has some impressive things in it ... things that we certainly think can make some changes in people's employment here," said Jon Curtiss, an organizer for the Michigan Federation of Teachers and School Related Personnel.

Part-and full-time lecturers -- or adjunct professors, as they are also known -- have increasingly become the heart of the teaching staff at large universities across the country.

In 1990, adjuncts were 33 percent of all college professors, according to the federal Department of Education. By 1999, their numbers had climbed to 43 percent. UC officials say their reliance is less than the national trend, with 1,600 or 12 percent of their 13,000 full-time faculty hired as lecturers. (The union says the number is closer to 2,000.)

Many adjuncts have doctorates in their respective fields, but are paid far less than full-time faculty who are hired for tenure-track positions. Lecturers spend most of their time in the classroom teaching, while many tenured faculty devote half or more of their time to research and writing.

Union officials predict public universities will continue to bulk up their ranks of less-expensive lecturers, as withering state resources pinch their ability to hire tenure-track faculty.

If the more than 1,000 dues-paying members of the UC lecturers union approve the new contract, it will take effect July 1.

Contract highlights
Job security: Lecturers with more than six years at UC will undergo merit reviews every three years, with the expectation of continuing appointments. Those with less than six years can’t be arbitrarily replaced with lecturers hired at lower salaries.
Binding arbitration: Allows lecturers to bring in a neutral arbitrator to settle disputes with the administration.

Salaries: By 2005, the base pay for lecturers with fewer than six years will rise to $37,000 from $27,000. For continuing lecturers, a minimum salary of $40,200 will take effect in 2004.

Lecturers’ fund: The UC will set up a fund to pay for travel to conferences and other professional development.