No Reprisal vs. No Strike Clause: The Chicago Sun-Times story regarding part-time faculty being terminated for failing to show up for work left out an important item. While the "No-Reprisal" language in the local 1600 contract is open for some interpretation (not to mention the part-timers aren't even in that union), the no-strike clause that is in the part-timers contract is pretty clear. When a union signs off on a contract and it includes no-strike language, they must have gotten some concession on their end. Either way, while my gut reaction is to sympathize with a Chicago police officer who moonlights as a teacher (actually, Dave Newbart's story in the paper doesn't make it very clear whether Dooley is retired police or still on the job), I don't have much respect for someone who knowingly makes a decision then whines about the consequences. He decided to abandon his students to support another group's cause, knowing full well that not showing up for work usually means termination. If he didn't know that, I can only hope he is retired from police work.

Dooley is one of several part-time faculty fired or facing discipline after their participation in a three-week strike by full-time union faculty. Unlike the full-time faculty, many part-timers are at-will employees with little job protection.

I would like to see this handled in some sort of standardized way, I don't like the fact that different people were treated differently.

At Daley College, union officials said two dozen part-timers were summoned to "pre-disciplinary'' hearings that could have led to termination. However, union officials urged the part-timers not to show up for the hearings last week. All have since been allowed to return to work, said Mel Anderson, director of student activities for the school and chairman of the local union chapter.