We’re United to Win a Strong First Contract!
Contract faculty make up half of NYU’s full-time faculty — and we are the driving force in NYU’s teaching mission. Our classrooms, research, and creative and scholarly practice are a major reason NYU is known for excellence. Yet while we shoulder so much of the university’s core work, decisions about our jobs and working conditions have long been made without us; and do not reflect the immense value we bring.
We’re fighting for a contract that recognizes our true contributions: one that protects the value of our teaching, research, and creative labor; strengthens the integrity of NYU’s academic mission; and helps build a more equitable and inclusive university.
Since voting by an overwhelming 89% to form our union in February 2024, we’ve taken action to win, for the first time, a real voice in shaping our working conditions and a fair agreement that respects the work we do every day:
- A majority of contract faculty identified priorities in bargaining surveys, voted on bargaining goals, and signed our open letter urging the administration to agree to our core demands.
- Hundreds of contract faculty have attended bargaining sessions as observers to communicate the urgency of addressing these issues in a strong first contract.
- Contract faculty from every school have participated in meetings with elected representatives to convey our concerns as NYU employees and constituents.
- Dozens of contract faculty have shared our stories on social media and in the press.
Despite this consistent majority support, we are disappointed that the administration has unnecessarily delayed by repeatedly rejecting many of our central demands. We needed the protections of a union contract when we began negotiations over a year ago. Today, with higher education under attack, our demands are even more urgent.
Watch Industry Associate Professor Benedetta Piantella (Tandon) and Andrew Sanfrantello (Courant) recent update on the NYU administration’s compensation proposal
Recent CFU-UAW Press Coverage
WSN | “When it comes to contract faculty, NYU ‘has no peers”
The Chief Leader | “NYU contract faculty union threatens strike vote”
WSN | “NYU is a union town”
Inside Higher Ed | “Stuck: Academic Careers and Housing Affordability”
WSN | “Contract Faculty rally for visa security”
Community and Local Elected Support for our campaign!
Escalation Workshops
RSVP here to join colleagues across campus at an upcoming workshop to discuss next steps in our campaign and how we can keep building power to win our first contract!
Fair compensation
Our wages lag far behind our tenured colleagues, and do not address the affordability crisis many of us face. Agree to a fairer compensation structure by addressing salary compression, correcting inequities, and ensuring that our pay reflects the cost of living in NYC.
Job security and academic freedom
Defending academic freedom has never been more important. Agree to a fair reappointment and promotion process, including presumptively renewable appointments for long-serving faculty, and guarantee the full participation of contract faculty in the shared governance of our schools, programs, and departments.
“During this time when free speech is under threat, a strong union contract will give us the collective power to stand our ground and continue to design and teach a rigorous curriculum for our students.”
Protect our scholarly and creative practices
Our research, our creativity, and our pedagogy is the foundation of NYU’s international reputation. Agree to better support for research and professional development — including sabbaticals — confirm our right to conduct research as principal investigators, and protect us and our students against the misuse of generative artificial intelligence.
Support for our careers and our families
We are overworked and struggling to meet new demands at home. Agree to fair workload policies and improved benefits to support ourselves across our careers and into retirement, our children and aging relatives.
“As a Dominican faculty member at NYU, I have designed curricula that draw on my bilingual experience and critical perspective, offering students opportunities they would not otherwise have. For nearly a decade, I have worked as a 12-month faculty member in a program with overlapping in-person and online calendars, often leaving me with less than a week off between terms. This relentless schedule has led to burnout, strained my health, and limited time with my family, while diminishing the creativity and innovation I bring to my teaching. A fair and enforceable contract is essential to protect faculty welfare, and ensure that NYU continues to benefit from creative and diverse pedagogy and scholarship.”
Support from our colleagues at NYU and beyond
Over 250 tenured and tenure-track faculty from across the university called on the administration to agree to a contract that defends shared governance and enshrined parity between tenured and contract faculty lines. Click here to sign! NYU Community member? Learn more how to support!
