USG reaffirms support for RTPC faculty union

Senators plan to vote at next week’s meeting to amend the election code. 

By DANIEL ESQUEDA
Senator Zehran Muqtadir authored the union-support resolution and described the non-tenure track faculty as “vital lifeline of the campus community.” (Adrian Jao / Daily Trojan)

The Undergraduate Student Government senate approved a resolution for the second time Tuesday night, once again expressing support for non-tenure-track faculty’s right to unionize.

The resolution comes after non-tenure-track faculty voted over the course of several weeks starting in April to unionize, with 70% of the 1,821 votes supporting unionization. The University has since challenged the results with the National Labor Relations Board.

Senators passed a similar resolution in April, calling on the University to respect the faculty’s right to unionize, as well as to refrain from interfering with the election.


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Senate resolution 146-04, which passed unanimously, urges the University to withdraw its appeal to the NLRB and bargain in “good faith” with research, training, practitioner and clinical-track faculty. Senator Zehran Muqtadir, who authored the resolution, said it is “extremely timely.”

“Non-tenure-track faculty are a vital lifeline of the campus community,” Muqtadir said. “No student at USC is going to go through their time here those few years without interacting with a slew of non-tenure-track faculty.”

During the discussion of the resolution, speaker of the senate Madison Troup said the resolution “tracks everything that is going on within the [Los Angeles] County area.”

Specifically, Troup referred back to RTPC members and students rallying outside Bovard Administration Building two weeks ago in support of their union.

“[The rally] had over 300 students, faculty, as well as community members,” Troup said. “It really illustrates how the broader USC community is dealing with this issue and really tracking it.”

Senators also discussed senate bill 146-04 to amend the elections code.

In April, senators passed a resolution requiring any changes to the elections code to go through a one-week grace period before being introduced to the senate for approval. According to chief justice Julian Gajewski, who presented Tuesday’s bill, new clarifications were added in response to the elections that took place in February.

Among the proposed changes are an anonymous complaint form, which will allow an individual to submit a complaint with identifying information only available to the judicial council. The individual who submits the complaint will not be required to attend a hearing.

Additionally, current USG officers will be allowed to advise candidates on their campaigns, but will be required to readily provide the same advice to all other candidates should they ask. USG officers will not be allowed to be a part of multiple candidates’ campaign teams. Previously, USG officers, excluding the current executive cabinet, senators, judicial council, and the director and associate directors in the communications department could publicly support candidates.

USG candidates will also now be required to declare all social media tools to the judicial council before the campaign period begins. Candidates will also be barred from giving out any goods during the voting period. SB 146-04 will be presented to senators again at next week’s meeting for approval.

“I took this opportunity to go through the elections code to include new clarifications for some things that were under consideration or had a gray period in relation to last year’s election processes,” Gajewski said.

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