Tenured Faculty Layoffs?

Obviously a touchy subject for the fat unions and their anarcho-communist allies. At Inside Higher Ed, "Layoffs Without 'Financial Exigency'":

One of the ultimate protections of being a tenured faculty member, historically, has been being immune from layoff in all but the most extraordinary circumstances. Under policies issued by the American Association of University Professors and largely accepted by higher education leaders, only institutions that declare "financial exigency" -- a state so dire that it "threatens the survival of the institution as a whole" -- can eliminate the jobs of tenured faculty members.

Given the strict criteria on when an institution can declare exigency, and the obviously unwelcome scrutiny such a declaration would bring about, institutions have hesitated to invoke that status. As a result, while institutions eliminate adjunct positions all the time, the tenured faculty member has been protected.

But maybe not so much anymore. In a series of recent actions, colleges appear to be ignoring the exigency requirement either when eliminating tenured jobs or considering the possibility of doing so. Administrators defend their moves as necessary to manage institutions in tight financial times, but faculty leaders see an erosion of a key right.

Consider these developments ...

There's a list of institutions moving in that direction, at the link.

Only public sector employees enjoy this much economic and workplace protection -- all on the taxpayers' dime. And I know, I'm a professor. But cost-rationalization has to start someplace, and I don't see unions as realistic in burden-sharing in hard times.

I'll have more on these issues, especially given California's big protests scheduled for this week.