The Adjunct Faculty Alliance, or UAW, at the USC School of Cinematic Arts voted to unionize on Friday.
94% voted in favor of unionization. The results with be finalized this Friday, unless there are any objections.
Jody Wheeler, assistant adjunct professor, was at the National Labor Relations Board in Santa Monica for the official counting.
Jody Wheeler: This was a big deal. And it was something that everybody in the department felt strongly about.
The alliance can then begin negotiating with the university.
The UAW first went public in November when they marched to the university’s Provost Office with their demands.
The alliance has asked for higher pay and security, as well as eligibility for health benefits.
Wheeler was one of the professors involved in the beginning of UAW’s formation.
Jody Wheeler: There was just this whole kind of collective thing together, that we were all going, ‘hey, this needs to be done better.’
The ballots were sent through mail on Jan. 31st.
Results of the voting weren’t much of a shock to Savannah Bloch, assistant adjunct professor.
Savannah Bloch: I wasn’t surprised. I, I know that a lot of us have been dealing with some of these issues for a long time. And I was mostly just incredibly excited that we were taking the initiative to move forward.
According to Wheeler, the university had the opportunity to recognize UAW as a union in November, but did not.
In a statement from the School of Cinematic Arts, the university said, quote “While SCA would have preferred to work directly with our adjunct faculty to address their concerns, we will respect their decision to be represented by a union and are committed to bargaining in good faith to reach a fair contract.”
Robert Ramsey, Adjunct professor of Writing for Screen and Television, says the alliance is looking for quick action.
Robert Ramsey: What we need to do is let the university know that we’re on a short time schedule here. We’re not interested in a long, protracted negotiation. This is a glaring deficiency. And it needs to be corrected with as much urgency as possible.
The favorable result for UAW has allowed the alliance to move towards official steps to improve the lives of adjunct professors at SCA.
For Annenberg Media, I’m Aerianne Collantes.