Trinity Washington University Adjuncts Join SEIU Local 500

Building on district-wide momentum, nearly 300 part-time faculty at Trinity Washington University have voted to unionize, joining SEIU Local 500 last Friday. Trinity Washington will be the ninth university in the DC area to organize adjunct faculty with the SEIU local. One of the most contingent jobs in a university’s workforce, adjunct professors are rehired every semester on a per-course basis, and many part-time professors are also never offered a path to tenure. The vote to unionize the adjuncts “gives us a unified voice and clear channel for us to be heard,” said Mitch Tropin, adjunct professor of communications at Trinity, “I know from experience this will have a positive effect on the important educational mission of the University.”