The long, hard summer of the adjunct

By Kane X. We need a national strategy to reform EI rules that acknowledges the specific labour conditions of sessional teachers.
One of the unfortunate realities facing many adjuncts is the need to rely on employment insurance between teaching periods. Although there’s no shame in relying on funds that you’ve paid into, it does underscore the problem facing adjuncts. Summer teaching positions are thin on the ground due to lower enrolment in the intersession and summer semesters, so some adjuncts depend on drawing from EI just to survive. EI rules in Canada are not specifically tailored to the postsecondary sector of employment, and adjuncts are lumped in with other teachers although the two groups face quite different circumstances. More...