The New School Strike: Workers and students in solidarity threatens bosses

New York, December 13—Workers’ fightback and unity among part-time faculty (PTF), full-time faculty (FTF) and students has won major improvements in wages, job security, and health care for PTF at the New School in New York City. On strike since November 16 – the longest PTF strike in U.S. history -  the PTF’s union announced an agreement that met almost all of the strikers’ demands. Final ratification is slated for December 17.  Progressive Labor Party (PLP) members joined the PTF picket lines, bringing revolutionary politics into the mix of this class struggle. (see Challenge, 12/14/22).

The New School bosses were exposed during the strike as ruthless exploiters who have no concern for the welfare of students, workers, and faculty. But workers’ determination and solidarity pushed them back! This strike and the bosses’ response demonstrated again how all capitalist institutions, including universities, must be overthrown and workers' power established if we are to have an educational system that serves the global working class, the vast majority of people, rather than the capitalist class.

The New School bosses were forced to meet all of the union’s core demands, including across the board raises, guaranteed annual raises for all five years of the contract, and flat payments of $400 and $800 for out-of-classroom work. For example, a part-time professor teaching a 45-contact hour lecture who currently makes $5,753 will earn $6,475 in 2023, and $7,820 in 2027.They also increased healthcare eligibility and guaranteed that health insurance plans would remain comparable from year to year.

Why did the New School bosses finally cave? Many reasons! The full-time faculty (FTF) held a solidarity strike from the onset of the PTF strike. Parents filed a lawsuit against the university. Students picketed and then occupied the administration building to support their teachers. And the PTF maintained strong picket lines throughout the struggle.

United faculty sees through bosses’ lies
During “negotiations”, the administration lied and threatened teachers and students. They claimed that meeting all the compensation demands from the PTF would lead to a $60 million deficit and tuition would increase by 50 percent. None of these numbers were backed by any transparent budget data and were only issued to scare students and parents who supported the PTF. The administration also threatened to withhold pay and health insurance contributions for any FTF and staff who struck in solidarity, issuing a “work attestation form” for everyone to fill out to prove they are working (i.e., scabbing on the strike) in order to receive pay. This policy, intended to be divisive, backfired.

FTFs fiercely objected to the work attestation form, noting that it contradicted the original core value of the New School, which was founded in 1919 by professors from Columbia University who refused to sign a loyalty oath. The attacks on FTF demonstrated that they too were just wage laborers whose economic security could easily be endangered, like workers in general. Solidarity between FTF and PTF skyrocketed. Some conservative FTFs were quickly marginalized and more radical voices dominated the
FTF solidarity action.

When New School administrators tried to use students to challenge the professional ethics of faculty on strike, the students responded by occupying the University in support of the strike and calling on all professors to honor the picket lines. The students’ occupation is ongoing as we go to press. Despite the union’s announcement of the end of the strike, students are using the momentum from the struggle to oust the President, disband the Board of the Trustees, and freeze tuition for the next few years.  

This success sets a positive precedent for many future academic strikes. This militant solidarity points the way to a revolutionary future if communist ideas of revolution, building the PLP, and intensifying the class struggle gain traction among engaged students and faculty.