Working people across the United States regularly step up to help out our friends, neighbors and communities during these trying times. In our Service & Solidarity Spotlight series, we’ll showcase one of these stories every day. Here’s today’s story.
Nontenure track (NTT) faculty at the University of San Diego (USD)—who are represented by Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 721—ratified their first union contract on Friday in a landslide vote.
The agreement comes after more than a year of bargaining, which included a two-day strike earlier this year, and covers around 200 staff in the College of Arts and Sciences. Adjuncts teach more than half of undergraduate courses in the program, but despite this, nearly 1 in 4 NTT faculty rely on public assistance to get by.
“My dream is for all the workers at USD to become unionized and have a say in their working conditions,” said theatre lecturer Soroya Rowley. “I think when everyone else sees what we won in our collective bargaining agreement, they're going to feel ready to take the next step to organizing their own units.”