Minnesota Students Walk Out in Support of Adjuncts

Hundreds of University of Minnesota students walked out of classes and rallied at the Twin Cities campus Friday in support of non-tenure-track instructors trying to unionize. “This is so important because when faculty that are teaching me are exhausted, overworked, underpaid and they’re having to worry about maybe even taking up other jobs outside of that, that puts a strain, and they’re unable to really focus on the curriculum and us as students,” Irina Barrera, a student protester, told ABC News. State labor officials said last week that adjunct and tenure-line instructors can hold an election over whether to form a joint union affiliated with Service Employees International Union, despite university arguments that the two groups did not share significant interests. A student group called Differences Organized planned the walkout.