2023 has been a big year for our union: we took our majority support public, and we made our demand for a fair union election impossible for NYU leadership to ignore. Since last March, contract faculty from across NYU have been meeting with the administration’s lawyers to determine how that election will work: Who will be included in our bargaining unit and thus eligible to cast a ballot? When and how will we vote? How can we ensure that the administration remains neutral in the run-up to that vote, and that the decision to pursue collective bargaining belongs solely to contract faculty?

We are now close to agreement on these questions, because 2023 was the year that many of us became actively involved in organizing. Nearly a hundred contract faculty from across NYU have been participating in our talks with the administration’s lawyers, and hundreds more have joined our Planning Assemblies to review their proposals and democratically decide how we want to respond. Many of us have been doing equally important work to build power in our schools and departments: talking to colleagues, sharing information, and putting together meetings. Finally, and crucially, most of us have taken a stand and publicly supported Contract Faculty United – UAW. We signed petitions, wore buttons, put up posters, shared posts on social media, showed up at rallies, passed out leaflets, and talked openly about why we want to exercise our right to collective bargaining.

In 2023, NYU contract faculty didn’t just support a union — we acted like one. Please join us this Friday, December 15th, from 5:00 – 7:00 pm at Vol de Nuit (148 W 4th St.) to toast the year we came together to claim our collective power and build solidarity across NYU.

In solidarity,
Organizing Committee
Contract Faculty United – UAW