Abstract
This article offers a case study of labor relations in a higher education setting. The University of Bridgeport's faculty union was certified in May 1973 and decertified in August 1992. Contract negotiation disputes centered on shared governance, managing faculty reductions during a time of inflation and declining enrollments, and determining fair wages. The private university experienced four faculty strikes, culminating in a two-year faculty strike – the longest in U.S. higher education history. The university was also the first institution of higher education in the United States to hire permanent replacement faculty during a strike. In 1990, leaders of the locked-out striking faculty unsuccessfully lobbied for a state government takeover of the nearly bankrupt university. The case study highlights a plethora of complex ethical issues faced by administrators, faculty, and unions during times of economic decline.
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Collins, D. Power Dynamics between Administrators and Faculty on a Unionized Campus: A Case Study. Journal of Academic Ethics 1, 239–266 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1023/B:JAET.0000014579.13774.6a
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/B:JAET.0000014579.13774.6a