ABSTRACT
Academic unionism, like teacher unionism generally, was at the lobbying stage; state legislatures and city councils were the main arena for winning more money for teacher salaries. Teaching Assistants unionism was virtually unheard of. While jobs in research universities were available for some, perhaps a majority of those trained in the humanities could look forward to teaching in a small state school or a community college or, worse, becoming part of the academic proletariat of temporary, part-time, and contingent adjunct instructors. Since 1970, academic unionism has been far more successful among faculty, especially at the community college and state university levels. And, culturally, universities embody the hopes, the aspirations, even the dreams of millions for a better future. Since the vast expansion of colleges and universities after World War II, higher-education institutions have arranged themselves along a loose, hierarchically constructed grid.
