Contract Faculty Wrest Neutrality from New York University

Contract faculty at New York University in Manhattan will vote on whether to unionize in late February. Their campaign bypassed the National Labor Relations Board election process, and their employer has committed to being neutral. Photo: CFU-UAW.

https://labornotes.org/2024/02/contract-faculty-wrest-neutrality-new-york-university

February 14, 2024 / Jeff Schuhrke

Contingent professors scored a victory January 3 when they got New York University to agree to a union election this semester, and to remain neutral during the process. The election is scheduled for February 27 and 28. If they vote yes, Contract Faculty United (CFU)-UAW Local 7902 will become the largest union in the country of full-time, non-tenure-track faculty at a private university, with 950 members.

Nationwide, two-thirds of faculty positions are contingent—meaning they lack the possibility of tenure. Many are adjunct instructors, who are hired on a course-by-course, semester-by-semester basis and typically make low wages and lack benefits.

But there is another, lesser-known category of contingent faculty: those who work full-time on long-term contracts. The number of such full-time, non-tenure-track faculty in the US has almost tripled since 1987.

At NYU, they are called “contract faculty” and make up roughly half of all the professors. Their contracts are typically for three to five years, but can be as short as one or as long as nine years. Once their contract expires, they must renew it by essentially re-applying for their jobs.

FULL story at link above.