Non-tenure track (NTT) faculty in three Loyola Marymount University (LMU) colleges voted to join us in SEIU Local 721, according to ballots tallied Tuesday, June 11, by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)! The win is the first successful union drive for NTT faculty at LMU, and caps over a year of strong organizing.
On their path to victory, SEIU members in higher education and beyond showed strong support for LMU NTT faculty — promoting their union drive on social media, writing letters of support, and joining instructors at their April 19 rally and march to the campus president’s office.
The nearly 400 faculty members serve in the Bellarmine College of Liberal Arts (BCLA), the College of Communication and Fine Arts (CFA), and the School of Film and Television (SFTV), and teach courses in various fields, including animation, communications, dance, English, ethnic studies, film, history, music, philosophy, political science, screenwriting, theatre arts, urban studies, and many more.
They join thousands of higher ed workers who over the last decade have formed unions with SEIU 721 — the largest union in Southern California, representing over 100,000 workers — and its sister locals across the country.
This month, the NLRB will also tally the results of two more elections at SoCal colleges where workers seek to join our local: for students workers at Occidental College tomorrow Wednesday, June 12, and for NTT instructors at the University of San Diego on Tuesday, June 18.
We’re proud to welcome these workers into our union family!
LMU NTT faculty members released statements about their win.
Lauren Cole, senior lecturer of History:
“It’s been wonderful to see LMU NTT faculty come together to unionize with SEIU 721. Although we hail from many different disciplines, organizing together revealed our many commonalities and collective need for change at LMU. I encourage all LMU NTT faculty to join us in crafting our first union contract. Working together will lead to a contract with better pay and benefits, job security, and respect.”
Arik Greenberg, clinical assistant professor in LMU’s Department of Theological Studies:
“It’s unfortunate that the administration encouraged faculty to vote no and sent them misleading information about our campaign during the election. That’s union busting, practices that most people associate with corporations like Amazon and Starbucks, not university leaders. But we expected it, given LMU’s anti-union conduct during our 2013 union drive, and we were ready. NTT faculty members worked tirelessly to convey to our colleagues, students, alumni, and community supporters why we need a union. We won their support, and, this time, LMU’s anti-union tactics fell flat.
Going forward, we demand that the administration live up to LMU’s Jesuit and Marymount values and traditions by engaging productively with its unionized faculty. Moving forward, we seek to set the stage for NTT faculty at more universities across the nation to join together to keep administrations accountable and raise the bar of their quality of life.”
Bryan Wisch, a Rhetorical Arts instructor at LMU:
“We hope our win inspires higher education workers on other campuses. For too long, many of us have lived with precarity, low pay, and disrespect. We NTT faculty members work ourselves to the bone, often getting side gigs just to get by. Many of us can barely pay rent, let alone save for a house or retirement. By going union, we’ve gained the power to fight for the dignified working conditions that we deserve. We call on the administration to come to the bargaining table in good faith, without delay.”