Adjunct faculty at the School of Cinematic Arts delivered a letter to the Provost’s office Wednesday requesting their union, the Adjunct Faculty Alliance-United Auto Workers, to be recognized by the University.

Professors marched from the courtyard of SCA to Bovard Auditorium, where the Provost’s office is located. As of Wednesday morning, 74% of adjuncts at SCA have signed AFA-UAW cards, which gives a union authorization to bargain on their behalf.

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“We would like them to voluntarily recognize us as a union so we don’t have to go to an election to be recognized,” said Missy Pawneshing, an adjunct assistant professor of film and television production since 2018. “We are ready to negotiate and act in good faith and have a great conversation with the administration to make USC a better place to work and learn.”

Marchers chanted “tuition goes up every day, pay your professors at SCA.” As faculty marched away from Bovard, they chanted “we’ll be back, we’ll be back.” Other chants included “get up, get down, [Los Angeles] is a union town.”

Also on Wednesday, the AFA filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board to begin the process of forming the AFA-UAW union. 

A bright yellow flyer passed out at the march highlighted their cause and the reasons adjuncts feel collective bargaining is necessary. 

“Without collective bargaining, we have experienced stagnant salaries, increasing workloads, vanishing benefits, threats to job security, and a lack of transparency in administrative policies,” read a bright yellow flyer that was passed out at the march. 

Those marching who were interviewed by the Daily Trojan said that a union is needed to negotiate with the University for better wages and parking. 

Savannah Bloch, a professor of film and television production, said that another issue for adjuncts was parking on campus, which currently costs $20 a day.  

According to adjuncts, only faculty who teach two courses receive University healthcare, and the University has been taking away second classes, only leaving adjuncts with one course, thus resulting in healthcare being revoked from faculty. 

“One of the consequences of this is obviously we don’t have control of our schedules or the length of our contract,” Pawneshing said. “But also it means that many of us have lost our health insurance.” 

Peter Gamble Robinson, an adjunct professor who stopped working at USC last year after 14 years because of the pay, said that it is not a livable wage. 

“I sometimes say that teaching at USC is like swimming with a rock. You’re doing something you love while slowly drowning,” Gamble Robinson said. “We don’t make enough to survive. But what we do get is health insurance when you teach two classes. And one of the reasons that I was here was that health insurance.” 

In a statement to the Daily Trojan following the march, the School of Cinematic Arts wrote, “We do not believe [SCA adjuncts] need a third party to speak for them. We remain committed to continuing to provide fair compensation and will continue to directly respond to their concerns and needs as they arise.”

If the University refuses to voluntarily recognize the union, adjuncts will take a formal vote to unionize. 

This development comes days after the Graduate Student Workers Organizing Committee reached a tentative agreement with the University, the first one ever at USC for graduate student workers.