It’s now been three weeks since nearly 90% of voting contract faculty said decisively that we want a union! Our victory sent a resounding message across academia, and it set us up to bargain a strong contract with the administration. We’re starting to take the next steps toward collectively bargaining that contract, and we need everyone to stay involved!

What does collective bargaining mean? How will we do it? Register for an important training on our contract campaign on Friday, March 29 at 3pm. Led by staff from the UAW International, we’ll learn the structures and strategies for winning the strong contract we’ve earned — one that will set national standards just like our election agreement did.

Before we can bargain, we’ll need to elect a Bargaining Committee from among CFU members. To do that, we need an Election Committee, made up of volunteers, to oversee the election. The Election Committee will stay neutral in the Bargaining Committee election — members are not allowed to run for Bargaining Committee nor to campaign on behalf of anyone else — and is an important part of the process of building a strong and democratic union. At the bottom of this email is an official Notice of Nomination. Please read it carefully. All members of the union are nominated to be on the Election Committee; any of them can accept the nomination — that is, join the committee — by responding to this email by Wednesday, March 27 at 5pm.

Under our groundbreaking election agreement, the NYU administration agreed to bargain with us in good faith. That means that the administration cannot unilaterally change the terms and conditions of our jobs without negotiating with us first. If you hear of any changes to your job, please email us or contact an organizer. Likewise, all unit members now have what are called “Weingarten Rights,” which means that we have the right to a union representative at any meeting that may result in discipline. Again, if you need the support of our union, please don’t hesitate to contact an organizer or respond to this email.

CFU members joined last year’s Triangle Fire commemoration

Next Monday, March 25, we will be joining our sisters and brothers from across New York City to commemorate the 113rd anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire, which killed 146 workers in what is now the Brown Building. That building — which now houses the NYU chemistry and biology departments — is still a place where we, along with our colleagues work. Please join your colleagues and union siblings as we commemorate this solemn anniversary. We will start at 11:30am at the intersection of Washington Place and Greene Street.

In Solidarity,

Organizing Committee
Contract Faculty United – UAW

Notice of Nomination for CFU-UAW Election Committee

All members of CFU-UAW are hereby nominated for the CFU-UAW Election Committee. If you accept nomination, you will be responsible for assisting in planning and overseeing the election of our first bargaining committee.

Please respond to this email to accept nomination. In order to be eligible to accept nomination, you must be a member of the union. You can join at any time by signing an authorization card. If you accept nomination, but we have no authorization card on file, someone will follow up with you.

After the close of nominations, all members who have accepted nomination will be appointed to the Election Committee.

Please note, Election Committee members are not allowed to campaign for any candidate and must remain neutral during the campaign period and election. You are allowed to vote, but cannot recommend anyone vote for a particular candidate. You may not also run for bargaining committee.

Please reply to this email if you accept nomination for the elections committee. Nominations close on Wednesday, March 27 at 5:00pm. Once the window closes, the committee will arrange its first meeting.