USC faculty will vote on union effort in April

A long-stalled union drive by USC faculty scored a major win Friday when federal labor officials ruled that the school’s non-tenure-track faculty may vote to unionize.

The election will take place during the week of April 13 or April 20, setting the stage for a potentially contentious labor dispute between more than 2,750 faculty members and a university still reeling from severe budget cuts and layoffs.

It’s been a long time coming. The would-be union cleared an initial procedural step in December 2024 when a majority of the school’s non-tenure-track faculty signed what are known as union authorization cards.

Unionization is never a quick effort, but labor drives across the country have faced substantial delays under the second Trump administration, which has hobbled the National Labor Relations Board, the government body that oversees private-sector unions.

USC had argued that its non-tenure-track faculty were ineligible to unionize because they function as managers through shared governance bodies like the Academic Senate, and that the proposed unit was too sprawling and disparate to share a common interest. The NLRB rejected those arguments in Friday’s ruling.

“We’re excited to move ahead with this vote and in the meantime, it’s crucial that USC refrains from any further legal delays and agrees to bargain with us in good faith if we vote yes,” said Sanjay Madhav, a Viterbi professor and union organizer.

Tomo Chien can be reached at [email protected].