BREAKING: The regional National Labor Board ruled against USC on Thursday, opening the door for over 2,700 non-tenure track faculty at USC to vote on whether to unionize.

USC had argued that those faculty should not be able to unionize because they function as “managers” already able to represent themselves through faculty committees and governance bodies, like the Academic Senate.

A decision signed by Danielle Pierce, regional director of NLRB’s Region 31 office in Los Angeles, rejected the University’s argument, and wrote that those faculty bodies usually serve in an advisory capacity.

Pierce ordered a secret ballot election among USC’s research, teaching, practitioner and clinical-track faculty.

The United Faculty-United Auto Workers, seeking to represent the faculty, initially filed for the unionization vote in December 2024.

The University did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the decision, but in a statement to the Daily Trojan in January 2025, the University wrote that it had legal, academic and operational concerns about the UF-UAW’s unionization effort.

“All of our faculty have an equal voice, and exercise it regularly, in our system of shared governance over how the university operates,” the statement read. “We do not believe our faculty need a union to speak for them or that applicable law will permit it.”

In her decision, Pierce found that the University’s administration routinely ignored or overrode faculty recommendations.

“The Academic Senate has made several recommendations and requests in the past five years that have all been rejected or ignored by USC,” the ruling stated.

Union members have previously said their goal is to get a seat at the bargaining table, and that a union contract would create a sense of job security that many lack.

Tenured and tenure-track faculty are not part of the proposed union. Keck School of Medicine faculty and part-time faculty in the School of Cinematic Arts, who are already represented by other unions, are also not part of the UF-UAW effort.

The election is scheduled for two consecutive days during the week of April 13 or April 20, with exact dates to be determined at a later time. There will be polling locations at University Park and the Health Sciences campuses. If a majority of union members vote in favor of organizing, an official union will be formed.

USC can appeal the ruling, but the election will proceed unless a higher authority from the NLRB says otherwise.