Months after the University declined to voluntarily recognize their union, adjuncts voted 206-13 to create a formal union, pending certification of the results by the National Labor Relations Board.
Adjunct professors at the School of Cinematic Arts voted overwhelmingly in favor of forming a union Friday afternoon. USC will now be legally obligated to negotiate with SCA adjuncts on wages, benefits and job security once the National Labor Relations Board certifies the results.
The final vote was 206-13, or 94% in favor of forming a union. Two hundred and eighty-one SCA adjuncts were eligible to vote. Of the 281 adjuncts, 231 votes were mailed in, and 219 were deemed valid. Twelve votes were disqualified for reasons such as not signing the ballot.
The adjuncts’ union, the Adjunct Faculty Alliance, will be represented by the United Auto Workers, alongside the Graduate Student Workers Organizing Committee.
Approximately 10 adjuncts joined together at 2 p.m. to watch the vote live in SCA 110. Faculty rotated in and out of the room while the livestream was underway, and one professor brought in a group of his students to watch the proceedings.
Adjuncts cheered at the ‘yes’ votes and when they reached 50%, the threshold needed for union formation, and booed at the ‘no’ votes. The room was celebratory following the final tally as adjuncts embraced each other in hugs. During the watch party, one adjunct played “Solidarity Forever,” a song originally performed by Pete Seeger, Jane Sapp and Si Kahn about union organizing.
Dara Resnik, who currently teaches in the Peter Stark Producing Program and has previously taught in the John Wells Division of Writing for Screen & Television, said she got a lot more emotional than she was expecting.
“When I crossed the mark into ‘We’re officially a union,’ I found myself getting a little bit choked up, which was really surprising,” said Resnik in an interview minutes after the adjuncts crossed the threshold needed for formation.
Peter Gamble Robinson, an adjunct professor who after 14 years stopped working at USC in 2023 because of low pay, said the unionization will benefit students as well as faculty members.
“Nobody wants to have to unionize,” said Gamble Robinson following the final tally. “We’re hoping that this is going to fix the problem, and it’s going to fix it for the adjuncts who have been underpaid. But as a former student at USC … we’re hoping this is going to make it a lot better for you [students] too, because you guys deserve a lot more.”
According to adjuncts, USC has removed second classes, which disqualifies them from receiving health insurance.
From here, the union will survey its membership to determine where everyone stands on negotiating on issues as well as picking a bargaining team as they prepare to negotiate with the University.
In a statement to the Daily Trojan following the vote to unionize, the School of Cinematic Arts wrote, “While SCA would have preferred to work directly with our adjunct faculty to address their concerns, we will respect their decision to be represented by a union and are committed to bargaining in good faith to reach a fair contract.”
The election comes after SCA faculty marched to Bovard in late November to deliver a letter to the USC administration asking for their union to be voluntarily recognized. According to Gamble Robinson, the University responded saying they were in favor of having adjuncts hold an election.
“Everybody deserves fair pay, health care and good working conditions,” Resnik said. “And if people aren’t going to give it to us out of the goodness of their heart, then we can take it for ourselves collectively.”
This follows the GSWOC reaching its first-ever contract between graduate student workers and the University at the end of November.
