Full-time faculty in non-tenured track positions at New York University are demanding that the university administration recognize their union.
In February, a group organizing a union called Contract Faculty United-UAW presented the university administration with a petition signed by a majority of contract faculty urging the university to agree to a “fair and neutral process” for voluntarily recognizing their union. These workers say they lack the job security - and many of the benefits - afforded to faculty members in tenured positions.
Universities across the country are increasingly dependent on contract faculty to fill both teaching and research roles. For university administrators, hiring faculty into contingent positions can allow for greater flexibility in employment decisions as well as cost savings. But for many faculty, contract work means less financial stability, diminished bargaining power, and less influence in university governance.
At NYU, roughly half the 2,000 full-time faculty positions are held by contract faculty. Unlike adjunct faculty, who are typically hired on a per-semester or per-course basis, contract faculty are hired on one- to eight-year contracts.
Some faculty say that the university is relying more on contract faculty to fill new appointments as well as positions that would traditionally be tenured or tenure-track roles as a means of cutting costs. “Contract faculty are now teaching the majority of the classes. They have, oftentimes, the most contact with the students,” says Lane Anderson, a clinical associate professor in NYU’s College of Arts and Sciences. “But they are usually paid significantly less than tenured faculty, and they have far less benefits typically than the tenured faculty.”
Unlike tenured professors, contract faculty at NYU have to reapply for their jobs at the end of each appointment, which also means renegotiating their contracts. Faculty say that expectations and roles for contract faculty, as well as compensation and benefits, differ greatly across schools and departments. This differentiation can make it difficult for individual faculty members to effectively negotiate with the university.
Faculty in the Expository Writing Program in the College of Arts and Sciences started organizing in 2017 and decided to affiliate with United Auto Workers (UAW) Local 7902 soon after. CFU-UAW began to engage faculty at other schools and distributed union authorization cards in 2019. A majority of contract faculty at the university signed up for the union to represent them in 2020 - just before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In February 2023, the union presented the administration with a petition signed by more than 500 faculty demanding that the administration respect workers’ rights to collective bargaining, ensure due process for contract faculty around termination, and commit to annual raises that match or exceed the inflation rate. “Our primary demand right now is just that we want a fair and expeditious process to recognize our union,” says Jacob Remes, a clinical associate professor at the Gallatin School of Individualized Study. “We want the administration to acknowledge our democratic right to organize [and] follow the policy of the United States as set out in law, that is, to encourage collective bargaining and employee organization…for mutual aid.”
Some faculty hope that a collective bargaining agreement can bring regular wage increases to keep pace with inflation and increases in the cost of living. “A lot of times faculty live without knowing if there will be a cost of living increase, how much it will be, if they will get raises again,” says Lane Anderson. Anderson contrasts her situation at NYU, which is located in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village, to her partner’s experience as a unionized worker at a City University of New York (CUNY) school where the union renegotiates a collective bargaining agreement with a cost of living increase every few years. The union “just totally improves our quality of life, and makes this a job that's really sustainable and a good job to have instead of one where you're always kind of scratching your head like, ‘I don't know, is this job sustainable? Should I really keep this job?’” Anderson emphasizes that many contract faculty struggle to keep up with expenses like housing, childcare, and their own student loan debt while working in one of the most expensive cities in the world.
The Washington Square Arch, near New York University's Greenwich Village campus. Photo by Simi Iluyomade on Unsplash.
Zoe Carey, President of ACT-UAW Local 7902 – the union affiliated with Contract Faculty United that also represents most adjunct faculty at NYU – is confident that contract faculty can win pay increases through collective bargaining. Carey notes out that NYU adjunct faculty negotiated a contract last year which won faculty significant pay increases and compensation for out-of-class work. “Contract faculty, I think, have a feeling that we can build off of what the adjuncts just won, and, you know, get even better compensation,” says Carey.
For others, a key issue is reforming the contract renewal process to grant workers greater job stability. Some faculty worry that the university can choose not to renew their contract – for example, if a class receives complaints from students – and that contract faculty have no recourse for unjustified terminations. David Brooks, a clinical assistant professor of art in the Gallatin School, describes contract renewal as “arduous” and compares the process to a professor having to re-apply for tenure every three years. “Renewal was when I kind of realized … my future is not as stable as I thought it was,” says Brooks.
Some faculty hope that better job security can also bring contract faculty more opportunities to get involved in university governance. Tega Brain, an industry associate professor of technology, culture, and society in the Tandon School of Engineering, says that it’s difficult for faculty in contract positions to take on leadership roles, such as department chair, which are typically reserved for tenured faculty. “If you're a chair, you need authority. You need stability. You need the sort of standing in the school to be able to do that job well…because you are negotiating with all the other chairs and all the other engineering schools, and they're all tenure professors,” says Brain.
Faculty also point out that establishing more stable working conditions for professors would also translate into a better experience for students. David Brooks emphasizes that students expect professors to create spirited and fruitful learning environments, which can be difficult when faculty are struggling financially. “They need that energy from you,” Brooks says. “If you just simply don't have the energy to give, then you're not really fulfilling the mission of the school ultimately.”
For ACT-UAW Local 7902 President Carey, the organizing campaign is also part of a larger strategy to build greater worker power in the higher education sector. Carey notes that Local 7902 already represents the vast majority of instructors at NYU. “The idea of contract faculty joining our local and being able to work alongside the adjuncts – that builds real sectoral power,” Carey says.
While lawyers representing the administration have met with CFU-UAW organizers to discuss the union’s proposed bargaining unit, the university has not yet stated publicly whether it will recognize the union. If the university refuses, the other pathway to collective bargaining would be for a majority of contract faculty to vote for union representation in an election run by the National Labor Relations Board.
Though NYU has been slow to engage in dialogue with CFU-UAW, most of the workers I spoke with remain optimistic that the organizing campaign will succeed. “I am confident that we are going to win a union. I am confident that we will win any election. I see no reason why we should have to drag this out,” says Remes.
Anderson is also optimistic, and hopes that the university will see the value of avoiding an ugly public fight. Anderson points to last year’s acrimonious contract negotiations at the New School. Adjunct faculty walked out for three weeks during a dispute with the administration about pay and benefits. Anderson also notes that, with clerical workers, graduate student workers, and adjunct professors at NYU already represented by unions, contract faculty are the last large group of workers at the university without either union or tenure protections. The push for unionization “...isn't happening because people hate their jobs,” Anderson says, “People mostly love this job, and they want to keep it and make it sustainable too.”
