As we prepare for our upcoming National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) election on unionization, we have a historic opportunity to establish a stronger faculty voice at USC. If a majority votes “yes” for UF-UAW as our union at USC, the administration would be obligated for the first time ever to negotiate as equals with non-tenure-track full-time, part-time, and adjunct faculty in the process of collective bargaining.
Click here if you are ready to vote yes and say why.
As we near the election, and as USC continues its campaign to convince us to vote no, we encourage you to pay close attention to the facts, and a few basic points about collective bargaining.
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With a union, faculty have a stronger voice to win the improvements we want to see. Collective bargaining through the UAW has enabled non-tenure-track faculty to negotiate improvements to pay, benefits and job security at other universities, both historically and in the last few years. Click here to review concrete examples of what faculty at other universities, as well as 3,000 graduate student workers at USC, have won through collective bargaining.
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As non-tenure-track full-time, part-time, and adjunct faculty, we are the union. In 2024, a majority of us signed cards in support of forming our union. If a majority of faculty vote yes, USC would be legally obligated to engage in good faith collective bargaining with us. NTT faculty would elect a bargaining committee from among our colleagues, distribute bargaining surveys to determine priorities, ratify initial bargaining demands, and ultimately, vote on whether to approve what is negotiated before it goes into effect as our first union contract.
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By forming a union, we join a larger national movement of unionized academic workers making improvements to and protecting the future of higher education. In addition to winning improvements in pay and benefits, UAW academic unions have also been increasingly focused on fighting back against attacks on higher education. By uniting with tens of thousands of academic workers across the country, we have the ability to not only protect higher education, but change it for the better to reduce inequities and improve the quality of education, research, and healthcare across the board.
We also encourage you to review the FAQ on our website on the most recently asked questions from faculty, which we will continue to update with more information as we approach the vote.
When is the election?
We’re expecting to have final election dates and other details very soon. Upon finalization by the regional NLRB, we will share them immediately.
In solidarity,
The UF-UAW Organizing Committee