On Thursday we sent you an email encouraging you to run for union office. That email contained incorrect instructions about how to nominate yourself; rather than email, you should use this form. Here’s the original email, updated with more complete and correct information about nominations.
We know what we can accomplish when we stand together. By working in solidarity and building a strong, supermajority union, we won a contract that has set new standards for faculty unions around the country.
But our fight isn’t over. In the months and years to come, we will need to enforce our contract through counseling our colleagues, filing grievances, and continuing to organize. If you were inspired by our collective power last March, I hope you’ll stay involved and keep building our union. You can read more about how our union governs itself here.
On Wednesday, you got an email from UAW Local 7902’s election committee, seeking nominations. Please read the descriptions below and nominate yourself by filling out this form by Wednesday, August 19, at 5pm.
Unit Chair
The Unit Chair is the executive of our union. Together with the five Unit Representatives we elected in May, they enforce our collective bargaining agreement by representing members in investigatory and disciplinary meetings and in grievances at all steps. In addition, they perform necessary administrative tasks like managing bargaining unit data and representing the union in official correspondence with the NYU administration. They liaise with other campus unions, supervise CFU’s staff organizer in conjunction with the Local President, and serve ex-officio on the Local 7902 Joint Council and Executive Board. In May, I was elected interim Unit Chair, pending this election. We must now elect a Unit Chair for the full three-year term.
Joint Council Representatives
Joint Council Representatives represent CFU on the Joint Council of UAW Local 7902, which governs the Local between membership meetings, including making policy and budgetary decisions. Our JC reps will also serve on our CFU Workplace Council. Based on our membership numbers, we will elect five JC reps. If you like faculty meetings and are eager to build power for higher ed workers with our siblings across NYU, the New School, New York Film Academy, and School for Visual Arts, this is the job for you. The Joint Council meets monthly and reps serve a three-year term.
Stewards
There is no limit to the number of stewards we elect, which means that everyone who self-nominates will be elected. Running for steward is a way to commit to helping support our colleagues and build our union for the next three years. Stewards help their coworkers enforce the contract, build power within the university, and support and defend higher education. Being a steward is more about making a commitment to yourself and your co-workers than it is an elected office. Any CFU member may be nominated or self-nominate to be a steward, whether or not they hold or are on the ballot for another position, which means that you should nominate yourself for steward even if you are running for Joint Council rep or plan to run for Workplace Council rep.
To nominate yourself or somebody else (with their permission) for Unit Chair, Joint Council Representative, or Steward, fill out this form by Wednesday, August 19, at 5pm.
Coming in September: Workplace Council Representatives
In a few weeks, we will run a separate election for school representatives to CFU’s Workplace Council. Each school will elect at least one member, and schools with 100 or more contract faculty will elect two. The Workplace Council will govern our union, but more importantly, members will be organizers and stewards, educating members about our contract and our union; activating members to defend our profession; communicating the concerns of members; helping to coordinate grievance proceedings; representing and advising members in disciplinary meetings; and working to facilitate the full democratic participation of the membership in union affairs. If you want to be the first point of contact for your colleagues and work to enforce the contract, this is the job for you. Our union will only be as strong as our network of Workplace Council reps. I hope you will run.
Coming in the mail: International Executive Board
While we’re electing local representatives, our international union, UAW, is holding an election for the International Executive Board, including the president and vice presidents. You can learn more about the candidates here (we’re in Region 9A). Keep an eye on your mailbox for a paper ballot, which should arrive at the end of August or beginning of September.
To keep what we won in March, we will need to keep our union strong. I hope you’ll join me in that work.
In solidarity,
Elisabeth Fay
CFU-UAW Interim Unit Chair