We’re excited that ballots for our historic NLRB election have started to arrive.
We are proud of the unprecedented conversation taking place about faculty voice and the critical role we play in advancing the core mission of our great university through our teaching, research, practical, and clinical work. We’re voting yes because we know we can gain a stronger voice through collective bargaining.
Our reasons for voting yes have not changed. Voting “yes” means the USC administration would, for the first time ever, have a legal obligation to negotiate with us over the terms of our employment, and to commit any agreements we reach into a contract that they could not unilaterally change. We would join tens of thousands of our colleagues across the U.S. who already engage in collective bargaining.
The USC administration has gone to great lengths to convince us that we don’t need collective bargaining. They claim we already have a voice through shared governance, and contend that it would be challenging to negotiate a contract covering such a diverse group of faculty.
As our own colleagues have reminded us, shared governance without collective bargaining means USC can and does make unilateral changes to our employment, as they have done in recent years by increasing healthcare costs, reducing tuition assistance benefits, increasing workloads, and refusing pay increases that address the skyrocketing cost of living. We also know, from the experience of our unionized colleagues elsewhere, that groups of comparably diverse faculty have successfully negotiated contracts that secure improvements for all faculty while also protecting departmental/local practices where that was important.
We look forward to robust participation in this election. RSVP here to one of our two town halls coming up this week, and find more information on our website.
Signed,
Isabelle Mazumdar, Dornsife
Alison Trope, Annenberg
Debra De Liso, Dramatic Arts
Jody Tolan, Marshall
Renee Smith-Maddox, Dworak-Peck
Clare O’Connor, Annenberg
Kortney Hernandez, Rossier
Patrick Corbin, Kaufman
Carmen Argote, Price
Sean Kennedy, Annenberg
Celso Delgado, Chan
Edgar Landa, Dramatic Arts
Omar Ezzeldine, Rossier
Gregory Pohlner, Viterbi
Terry Richardson, Biokinesiology & Physical Therapy
Ryan McWilliams, Thornton
Lauren Quan-Madrid, Price
Jelena Mirkovic, Viterbi
Sanjay Madhav, Viterbi
Jason Marsili, Gould
Lodovico Pizzati, Dornsife
Jeff Rodgers, Gould
Kate Levin, Dornsife
Stephany Powell, Dworak-Peck
Zivia Wilson Sweeney, Marshall
Ashlin Hunter, Thornton
Anna Lynch, Chan
Dan Lainer-Vos, Dornsife
Feixue Fu, Dornsife
Aaron Siegel, Iovine and Young Academy
Jim Clements, Dornsife
Esai Orozco, Biokinesiology & Physical Therapy
Brandon Coen, Gould
Ed Johnson, Bovard
Laura Castaneda, Annenberg
Javier Garibay, Libraries
Rob Parke, Viterbi
Ryan Boyd, Dornsife
James Alcala, Dornsife
Liyan Wang, Rossier
Paul Stern, Gould
Ariela Turndorf, Marshall
Natalia Perez, Dornsife
Emily Zeamer, Dornsife
Michael Bodie, Cinematic Arts
Nicole Maccalla, Rossier
On behalf of the UF-UAW Organizing Committee