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Unionized Faculty Win Better Wages & Working Conditions

SEIU represents over 50,000 faculty at 60 universities & colleges nationwide – including over 1,700 faculty in the Bay Area

“The formation of a union of adjunct professors and lecturers at Georgetown University has led to a substantial improvement in the adjuncts’ situation and to better relations between the university and its contingent faculty. The process of forming a union and successfully negotiating with the university produced a greater sense of unity and solidarity on the campus. In these difficult times, both the unionized faculty and the university are thankful to have the forum created by collective bargaining within which to work out joint solutions to the challenges created by COVID-19.”

- Joseph A. McCartin, Professor & Executive Director, Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor at Georgetown University

Contract Wins for Local and National SEIU Unionized Faculty

OR: WHY 50,000 UNIVERSITY EMPLOYEES CHOSE TO UNIONIZE THROUGH SEIU & VIRTUALLY EVERY U.C. & CAL STATE FACULTY MEMBER is UNIONIZED

Jesuit & Other Universities Unionized with SEIU

  • Increased Wages & Improved Job Security at Fordham University

    • Longer, renewable appointments, course cancellation fees, severance payments, and a grievance procedure

    • 67-90% per course pay increases for the majority of 500+ adjuncts over the life of the 3-year contract.

    • $14,000 salary increase for some of the lowest-paid full-time members, 13% median salary increase for all full-time members.

    • $50k in professional development funds and two fully-paid semester leaves for full-time members.

  • Improved Benefits, Stability, & Better Wages at Loyola University at Chicago

    • 3 weeks of paid paternity leave for the part-timers, conversion of some part-time positions into full-time positions.

    • Lowered course load/annual credit hours that trigger course releases.

    • Improved job stability with wage increases as high as 51%, & course cancellation fees.

  • Closed Pay Gaps, Improved Benefits, Retirement, and Wages at the University of Chicago

    • Closed the pay gap of adjuncts across all programs. Extended paid parental leave, introduce longevity raises for long-term part-time lecturers, and enable phased retirement for full-time lecturers.

    • Improved terms of appointments, paths to promotion, & professional development funding. 7.5% raise over 3 years for all members.

Bay Area Faculty Unionized with SEIU 1021

  • Raises, Expanded Benefits, and Elimination of Wage Theft Practices at California College of the Arts

    • 8.5% raise over three years.

    • End to “half-lines” practice of paying adjuncts half the course rate for under-enrolled courses that result in a 50% pay cut for teaching 100% of a course.

    • Access to tuition remission, retirement benefits for benefits-eligible adjuncts, & accelerated pathways to promotion.

  • Expanded & Transparent Opportunities for Advancement at St. Mary's College

    • Transparent and automatic process for advancement

    • Part-time adjunct faculty are considered for open full-time positions before outside hires.

    • Adjunct faculty who apply for open tenure track positions are guaranteed a 2nd interview.

    • Adjuncts have a transparent yearly course-bidding process that’s seniority-based, allowing people to teach more if there are courses available.

  • Salary Transparency & Improved Compensation at Dominican University

    • Initial placement & advancement on scale is based on terminal degree, seniority at the university, teaching at other institutions & non-teaching professional experience when applicable

    • Adjuncts are paid a permanent percentage of what tenure track faculty are paid

    • $40k per year professional development fund exclusively for contingent faculty

    • Extra pay for developing courses, over-enrolled classes, substitute teaching, reading theses, writing letters of reference, teaching independent study courses

  • Holy Names University: Raises, Better Course Cancellation & Low Enrollment Rates

    • Adjuncts converted back to per course/salaried employees per AB 736 resulting in raises of over 45% for some faculty.

    • $50/hour for each hour of class time in addition to the cancellation payment for classes canceled after the start of the term.

    • Adjuncts paid a full rate per class with four or more students.

  • Legislative Wins that Raise Standards Across the State with AB 736:

    • Signed into law on September 9, 2020.

    • Classifies adjunct faculty as professional employees, exempt from state wage & hour laws.

    • Sets adjunct pay at a minimum of twice the state’s minimum wage for a 40-hour workweek.

    • Some adjuncts across the state saw a nearly 50% wage increase as a result of the bill.

Unionized Faculty Negotiate For Reasonable Improvements That Shared Governance, by Design, Cannot Always Effect

Shared governance continues after unionization, and the presence of a faculty union adds to shared governance, offering distinct advantages and new opportunities. Shared Governance and a Faculty Union can work together to partner on relevant issues, where appropriate, to help make the best working environment possible for all faculty, students, & staff. Consider these four key differences between SCU’s shared governance groups and what a faculty union offers:

  1. Shared Governance Groups:
    A university’s shared governance system often focuses on traditional areas of academic concern like curricula, populating committees, handbook updates, evaluation of teaching, and making recommendations via the passage of resolutions for the administration to consider.

  2. What a Faculty Union Offers:
    Faculty Unions function to address the wages, benefits, and working conditions for represented faculty so adjuncts and lecturers can better afford to work here, experience stronger support networks, and focus on their teaching, service, as well as professional development or scholarship.

  3. Shared Governance Groups:
    Committees/task forces can be elected or appointed. Faculty Senate is ALL ongoing faculty. Faculty Senate Council is usually comprised of one person per department.

  4. What a Faculty Union Offers:
    All eligible non-tenure track faculty at SCU may join the union with high participation encouraged. Faculty Union officers are elected from among the lecturer ranks of SCU’s faculty by lecturers themselves.

  5. Shared Governance Groups:
    All policies and decisions from shared governance are ADVISORY to the university administration who can decide to act upon said recommendations—or not.

  6. What a Faculty Union Offers:
    The university administration is LEGALLY OBLIGATED to negotiate a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) with the Faculty Union who also holds an EQUAL seat at the table.

  7. Shared Governance Groups:
    Shared governance is not necessarily designed to give faculty equal voice. There is NO LEGAL or OTHER OBLIGATION on the university to listen to the advice given by governing bodies at SCU.

  8. What a Faculty Union Offers:
    The university administration must follow the terms and conditions outlined by the CBA or face legal action. Processes for holding the university accountable are outlined in a Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).