Faculty in Collective Bargaining Agreements: Compromising Professionalism or Aiding It?

The inclusion of professionals in a unionized workforce, particularly in higher education has not been one of unquestioned acceptance. A key concern is that faculty are members of a learned profession that not only has enjoyed, but may require, working conditions that are antithetical to the industrial labor environment of a unionized workforce. While faculty members in the United States have engaged in healthy debates over working under collective bargain agreements, there remains little study of how the profession currently fares in these agreements. To address this gap, this study is an examination of the relationship between the professional concerns of faculty and collective bargaining. It centers on whether unionization is fundamentally compatible with the definition of a professional, as perceived by the faculty surveyed, and if their collective bargaining agreements act as agents of hindrance, or facilitation, with regard to faculty professional concerns. Information gained from this study may inform the collective bargaining process for both sides of the table, and lend an understanding of the impact of these agreements upon faculty professional concerns.