What "quality" means in higher education depends on whether one speaks from the labor (faculty) or the management (adminis tration) perspective, but the current "cooperate around quality" trend does not leave room for debates about definitions of quality. This reflects the fact that faculty and administration do not come to the bargaining table as equals. Increasingly, the administration's definition is simply imposed on employees who are, in the major ity, contingent, and not yet represented by unions. To show how differences in what counts as "quality" play out in a highly unequal confrontation, we present a case study of the experience of one teacher and union activist in the Chicago City Colleges. We then place this case in the context of the current campaign to privatize both administrative and instructional functions of the Chicago City Colleges. Instead of "cooperating around quality," we recom mend an alternative strategy of coalition with other higher educa tion workers and students and commitment to a labor definition of quality.
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