By now, most of you have heard, many times, that our contract at F.I.T. was the first contract in public higher education in the country. But few people have heard the story of how our union was formed so that we were able to negotiate that contract.

 

     In 1966, faculty members at F.I.T. who were interested in some kind of professional affiliation, joined the American Association of University Professors (AAUP). During that year, there was an effort to unionize the faculty at St. Johns University, led by Dr.Israel Kugler of the American Federation of Teachers.

 

     The conflict that developed between the faculty and the St. Johns administration turned really nasty. The result was a strike by the faculty. Iz Kugler organized, advised and led the faculty in their heroic efforts.

 

     Several F.I.T. faculty members traveled to the St. Johns campus to join the picket lines of their striking collagues. We were disappointed and outraged that our organization, the AAUP, not only did not join the picketing, but offered no support to their embattled fellow academics.

 

     Most of us who were AAUP members tore up our membership cards and resigned in protest. I don't recall if we approached Iz Kugler, of if he approached us, asking to start a new organization at F.I.T. affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers. Iz worked with about seven of us to organize and convince others for the need for a union. In a short time, with Iz's guidance and energy, almost 100% of our faculty joined up.

 

      In 1967,  Iz as chief negotiator of our negotiating committee (and some help from Al Shanker), led us to that historic contract. And as the saying goes, the rest is history.

 

    Iz passed away at age 90, on October 1,2007.  Here's the link to the NY Times story. And here's the wikipedia link.