UPDATED MAY 15, 2024.
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has ordered a new union election for non-tenure track (NTT) faculty in the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS). All CAS NTT faculty will need to submit new ballots by mail.
Info about our new election:
- Ballots will be mailed by the NLRB to CAS NTT faculty on Monday, May 20, 2024.
- If you received a ballot in the mail already, or if you receive one before May 20, please discard it and wait for a new ballot to submit.
- CAS NTT faculty recommend sending back your YES vote as soon as possible. Ballots will be collected and counted on June 18 at 2:30 PM, and results will be announced soon after that. Ballots must be received before then.
- With your ballot, you’ll get both a blue and yellow envelope. Place your completed ballot in the blue envelope, and then put the blue envelope in the yellow return envelope — which will include a return address. No postage necessary.
- You must sign the back of the yellow return envelope in the provided space. Any ballot in an envelope that is not signed will NOT be counted.
Employees who believe that they are eligible to vote and do not receive a ballot in the mail by Tuesday, May 28, 2024, or those who need a duplicate ballot, should call the NLRB Region 21 office at 213-894-5254 immediately. If there is no answer, please leave a voicemail with your full name, title, employer’s name (the University of San Diego), and a short message with the address you’d like the ballot mailed to and a phone number for a callback. You should also follow these instructions if you’re going to be away from your normal address during the election, and would like your ballot to be sent to a different address.
Who’s Eligible To Vote?
Eligible voters include all full-time and part-time non-tenure track faculty, including with the title of Lecturer, Lecturer I, Lecturer II, Adjunct Instructor, Adjunct Assistant Professor, Professor of Practice, Visiting Assistant Professor, and Applied Music Instructor, who are employed by the University of San Diego (USD) and taught at least one credit-earning class, section, lesson, or lab within the academic unit known as the USD College of Arts and Science in the semesters spring 2023, fall 2023, or spring 2024.
Also, we want to make a few things clear:
The new election timeline was requested by CAS NTT Faculty. CAS NTT faculty at USD who are leading the union campaign requested a new election as soon as possible.
There’s no reason to wait for the fall. This is a vote-by-mail election, so whether faculty members are on campus is irrelevant. We feel USD’s rationale for a fall election is a delay tactic to suppress our vote.
Faculty can request ballot delivery to any address they prefer. If you’re going to be away from your normal address during the election, that’s fine. Call the NLRB immediately at 213-894-5254 to give them your preferred address. If there is no answer, please leave a voicemail with your full name, title, employer’s name (the University of San Diego), and a short message with the address you’d like the ballot mailed to and phone number for a callback.
USD administrators unfortunately continue their pattern of sending misleading communications about our union campaign — including portraying our new election as problematic with no clear or credible reasons given. Though this is disappointing, as we noted in a recent email, it’s not entirely surprising: it’s typical for colleges facing union drives to send misleading information to higher education workers as part of anti-union campaigns.
For more information on how universities union bust, read here for a good breakdown by Inside Higher Ed: For Your Anti-Union Information.
