At Philadelphia's Temple University, the 1,380-member faculty saw its position eroding rapidly. For lack of money, the administration abolished 230 part-time and 26 full-time teaching jobs, twice postponed scheduled pay raises, and repeatedly vetoed faculty-committee nominations on tenure. State legislators, moreover, seemed ready to enact a law to force professors at the state-supported institution to teach an average of twelve hours a week, compared with nine now. In self-defense, the faculty fought back last week. By 911 to 183, they voted to organize themselves into a union and negotiate a labor contract with the university.
Only a few years ago, such a...