One year ago, Congress defunded public media. Now that we're 100% community funded, please become a sustaining member or increase your existing membership today.
USC faculty vote to unionize as the university makes another legal challenge
Untenured faculty at USC first filed to unionize in December 2024.
(
Courtesy Kate Levin
)
Non-tenure-track faculty at the University of Southern Californiahave voted to unionize after more than a year of opposition from the university.
“ I think it just goes to show that the vast majority of faculty on campus who are non-tenured or non-tenure track are in support of making positive change towards their working conditions,” said Michael Bodie, an associate professor of practice of cinematic arts.
The unit is made up of more than 2,500 educators from various schools across USC, and first filed a petition for an election to unionize in December 2024.
Faculty have said a union is necessary to address “stagnant salaries, increasing workloads, vanishing benefits, threats to job security, and a lack of transparency in administrative policies.”
Bodie said despite his position being full-time, he has taken on side gigs to help pay his bills.
“We just want to be able to keep a roof over our heads, and we want to be able to pay for gas, and we want to be able to feed our families. It's that simple, and right now people aren't feeling that,” he said.
How has USC responded to the faculty union movement?
USC challenged the unionization proposal, saying the faculty that made up the proposed unit were “managerial” because of the university’s shared governance structure.
In March, the National Labor Relations Board disagreed, and allowed the vote to move forward. But on the day of the ballot count this week, USC again challenged the effort, asking for a review of that decision.
Sponsored message
"This election has presented not just important substantive issues but important legal issues as well," a USC spokesperson said in a statement. "The University has asked the National Labor Relations Board to quickly review the validity of this result as the first step toward obtaining much-needed legal clarity over these issues.”
The voting period for the ballots had been extended by several weeks, because the university had given the NLRB incomplete addresses for faculty members, according to the union. USC did not address that issue in response to LAist's request for comment.
Updated June 3, 2026 at 3:06 PM PDT
This article has been updated with comment from USC.
One year ago, Congress voted to defund public media, eliminating a critical $1.7 million from our budget every year going forward. But they couldn’t silence us, and we’re not going anywhere. LAist is now 100% community funded and that means we’re taking our future into our own hands and turning to you to keep local reporting strong.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief
