NYSUT higher education locals are being urged to take the initiative on planning for an H1N1 influenza outbreak, even as it is becoming clear that many colleges haven't addressed the labor questions that a flu outbreak would raise.

"The way college campuses are dealing with this ranges from very proactive to denying it's even a problem," said Amy Bahruth, a labor relations specialist at Rutgers University.
Bahruth spoke earlier this month at a meeting of the NYSUT Higher Education Council, chaired by Ellen Schuler Mauk, president of the Faculty Association of Suffolk Community College.

Among the potential issues — for which there are not yet any clear-cut answers:

• The federal recommendation that people who are considered high-risk patients be vaccinated first could force an employee to disclose that he or she has a serious health condition;
• Can an employee who contracts influenza and misses extensive work time file a workers' compensation claim if the classroom or campus office is filled with sick people?
• How would an influenza outbreak affect adjuncts, who often have no paid sick time?
• What if management creates a new definition of "essential personnel" in deciding who reports to work during a severe outbreak?

Council members offered stories of requests by administrators that violated either the contract or the federal laws that guarantee the privacy of health information.

The effort to document campus flu cases has been especially problematic.

"It started out with human resources saying anyone who was sick will have to call up and say why. They couldn't understand why we would object to that," said Andrew Sako, president of the Faculty Federation of Erie Community College.

Such stories will become more common, Bahruth said.

"If this really hits, there are going to be six-week waves where everything is going to be shut down," Bahruth said. "I think there is so much untested territory here that we're going to be breaking ground on everything we do."

Larry Gold, higher education director for the American Federation of Teachers, urged locals to talk to their administration now, which may mean union members take the lead in developing a plan for an outbreak.

"We're going to have to sit down with management and not avoid this," Gold said. "In the end, it's going to be a matter of persevering."

Council members also discussed the continuing problem of overenrollment, which has been especially evident at the City University of New York.

"My concern is health and safety," said Arthurine DeSola, secretary of the Professional Staff Congress at CUNY. She described packed hallways and elevators in campus buildings. "At Manhattan Community College, we still have students in trailers."

The PSC represents 22,000 faculty and staff at CUNY. Manhattan Community College's Fiterman Hall in lower Manhattan was destroyed in the 9/11 attacks.

Gold also discussed the AFT's "Just Ask!" campaign, which encourages parents to ask about the ratio of part-time to full-time faculty at colleges their child is considering.

"Just Ask!" is part of a program of the NYSUT national affiliate that seeks to improve working conditions for adjuncts while advocating for more full-time faculty.