FACULTY, POSTDOCS, GRAD WORKERS, AND THE USC COMMUNITY DEMAND:
FAIR USC NOW.
It is past time that USC:
Respect our voice.
Respect our vote.
Respect our rights.
OUR FIGHT
At a time when higher education is under attack, USC is choosing to work against the over 6,000 postdocs, faculty, and graduate student workers that perform the world class teaching and research they claim to value. If USC is to weather the attacks on higher education, they must choose to do the right thing and stand with their workers, not against us.
Research, Teaching, Practitioner, and Clinical (RTPC) Faculty
In December 2024, a majority of faculty signed cards and filed a petition for an election with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Instead of letting them proceed to a vote, USC tried to legally block their right to vote by taking them to a legal hearing where they claimed they are ineligible to unionize. For more information, see this op-ed written jointly by faculty, graduate student workers, and postdocs.
Postdoctoral Scholars
After a supermajority of postdoctoral scholars (postdocs) voted to form a union, USC continues to stall at the bargaining table and refuse the right of postdocs to have real protections at their workplace. USC claims that Postdocs don’t need enforceable protections against harassment and discrimination, claiming that postdocs are more likely to have complaints filed against them than to need to file a complaint – an assertion based on misleading data that silences survivors.
Our Shared Fight
In addition, in attempting to block faculty from forming their union, USC claimed that the NLRB itself is unconstitutional – following claims made by SpaceX and Amazon to weaken workers’ rights.
At the same moment that higher education is under attack, USC is hiding behind Trump’s regressive labor policies against its own workforce. Instead of siding with Trump, USC should work with us, not against us to defend the institution. That’s why our movement of over 6000 workers is coming together to demand a FAIR USC NOW that:
1. Respects the rights of a majority of 2500 RTPC faculty to vote on forming our union.
2. Bargains fair contracts, including protections from harassment for 400 postdocs.
3. Sides with the over 6,000 workers at USC in protecting higher education and research, not with Trump.
On September 3, a coalition over 300 faculty from UF and AFA, tenure-track faculty, postdocs, grad student workers, members of other unions on campus, undergrads, elected officials representing USC’s district, and other members of the USC community joined us to demand a FAIR USC NOW.
We delivered letters signed by thousands of USC workers calling on USC to respect the rights of RTPC faculty to form a union, bargain a fair contract with postdocs, and side with over 6,000 workers at USC, not with Trump.
