Adjunct faculty teaching at Loyola Marymount University (LMU) filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to form a union with SEIU/Adjunct Action. LMU is the latest southern California campus where adjuncts have taken action to form a union; adjunct faculty at Whittier College and the University of La Verne also filed for NLRB elections in November.
“Adjunct faculty are highly educated and passionate about teaching, but we have no job security, low wages, no benefits and no voice at LMU,” said Emily Hallock, a Lecturer in the Political Science Department. “I’m so glad we finally have the opportunity to form a union and win real improvements for ourselves and our students.”
There is a growing movement of adjunct faculty in Los Angeles and across the country who are organizing to raise standards by forming a union with SEIU/Adjunct Action. Adjunct faculty at Whittier College are currently voting on whether to join SEIU/Adjunct Action by mail-ballot election. The NLRB will count the ballots on December 20th.
The NLRB will determine the date of the elections at Loyola Marymount University and the University of La Verne.
In addition to L.A. County adjunct faculty union organizing efforts, part-time instructors at the University of the District of Columbia in Washington, D.C. have recently filed for union elections with the NLRB. In September, part-time lecturers at Tufts University voted to join Adjunct Action/SEIU.
