Non-tenure track faculty can vote by mail until May 15
Elections for the proposed faculty union will begin on April 24 via mail-in ballots.
By LIZZY LIAUTAUD
A date and method have been set in the voting for USC’s proposed non-tenure track faculty union: The election will take place via mail-in ballots beginning April 24, according to the National Labor Relations Board’s notice of election, a shift from the initially proposed structure that would have faculty voting in-person.
The NLRB will not count any ballots received after May 15 at 5 p.m., and will officially count them May 18.
According to the United Faculty-UAW website, ballots will be sent to faculty members’ addresses in Workday.
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All research, teaching, practitioner and clinical-track faculty across all schools — excluding the Keck School of Medicine and part-time and adjunct faculty at the School of Cinematic Arts — will be eligible to vote on the establishment of the union.
The election date announcement comes after a mid March decision from a regional National Labor Relations Board that RTPC faculty have a right to vote for unionization. In that ruling the NLRB had ruled that the election would take place in person over two consecutive days in mid-April.
UF-UAW first filed a petition to unionize over 15 months ago. The University challenged the unionization, arguing that the union was too broad, and that RTPC faculty were not eligible to unionize due to the managerial or supervisory roles they held in the Academic Senate and other shared governance bodies.
The NLRB, in its decision, said that the University routinely ignored faculty recommendations made in spaces such as the Academic Senate.
In previous communication regarding the NLRB’s initial decision that an election could be held, the University referred the Daily Trojan to a community-wide letter on the unionization efforts signed by Provost Andrew Guzman and Senior Vice President for Health Affairs Steven Shapiro.
“The election will present a number of practical and legal issues requiring careful consideration — in particular, whether unionization is the best way to address issues of concern or whether existing mechanisms are effective,” the letter reads.
Ballots will be counted on May 18 by the NLRB. The decision to unionize will be made by a simple majority of votes cast, with no quorum needed. The union will represent all RTPC faculty, regardless of their vote or whether they cast a ballot.
