Contract faculty have a number of long-standing priorities concerning workload, salary compression, and job security– among many others. The pandemic has only exacerbated these issues, and emphasized our exclusion from decision-making over our working conditions. We continue to air grievances in listening sessions, but administrators are rarely moved to act on what they hear.

Throughout the pandemic, we have had to adapt our labs and classrooms to conditions we had no say in determining, and accept a host of changes made without our input. Currently, NYU has no incentive to take our concerns seriously. A union will equalize the power relationship between contract faculty and the NYU administration, allowing us to more effectively advocate for ourselves, our students, and the work we do together.

• With a union, if another global pandemic arises, we’ll be able to call NYU to the table in special impact bargaining sessions to address issues not covered by the existing contract. Rather than making personal appeals to our chairs and deans, we’ll work together to determine the conditions we need to do our jobs safely and well, and negotiate mutually acceptable terms with the NYU administration.
• Through collective bargaining, we democratically decide what we want to pursue in negotiation, and NYU is required to share salary and employment data, allowing us to better determine our priorities. After a majority of faculty vote to ratify the contract, NYU cannot change the terms agreed to in negotiation.
• By coming together to form a union, we gain a stronger political voice, working with tens of thousands of academic UAW members–in New York, and across the country–to protect academic freedom and expand funding for education and research.

Contract faculty perform essential teaching, research, and administrative work in every NYU school. That gives us power, if we choose to claim it. Please contact us to get involved in organizing–building a powerful union will take all of us.