Nearly 1,000 Faculty Members at NYU Go on Strike

The union representing roughly 950 non-tenured faculty at NYU went on strike on March 23, after failing to come to contract terms with university administrators on issues ranging from compensation to stable housing.

The union, known as Contract Faculty United-UAW, is now picketing outside of the school’s John A. Paulson Center on Mercer St. The strike over stalled bargaining—which had been dragging on for roughly a year-and-a-half—has not impacted regularly-scheduled classes for students.

Union reps say that they have come to terms on some contract issues, namely on an agreement regarding academic freedom, but indicate that they’ll continue striking until outstanding issues—such as compensation increases and job security provisions—are resolved.

In a statement, NYU called the strike “fundamentally unnecessary,” adding that substitute teachers would be taking over from striking teachers during the picket.

“We presented a generous and comprehensive package that would improve the lives of every one of its members, including significant raises, the highest minimum salaries of any unionized contract faculty in the country, and comprehensive benefits including enhanced family care,” the statement said.

Straus News visited the jam-packed picket lines outside the Paulson Center not long after noon on Tuesday, March 24. Some union members were marching, a tiny child was enthusiastically banging a drum, and Scabby the Rat blow-up was propped up on the sidewalk. Many strikers wore banners signifying the union’s titular connection to the United Auto Workers (UAW).

Carly Moore, who is a clinical professor of Creative Writing and Contemporary Culture and Creative Production in the school’s Global Liberal Studies program, talked to Straus in detail about why the union had gone on strike.

“We weren’t able to get the university to offer us anything like a living wage for NYC,” she said. “Our biggest issues are still compensation and compression.”

Compression is a phenomenon that involves new hires receiving higher salaries than longtime staff, such as Moore, who has taught for over two decades. She also said that the union was looking to ensure faculty control over the curriculum (rather than administrative control), as well as better housing conditions and a shorter contract term length, to strengthen union leverage.

“We want people to join us on the picket line, if they support us,” Moore added. “This is really a last resort for us. We feel like we have no other choice.”

Another striker, Ger O’Donoghue—who is a professor in the university’s English Department—said he felt “very energized” by the company of his fellow union members during the picket. It was a departure from the stalled negotiations, he said, which consisted of endless “dull” Zoom meetings.

“Having to go on strike is unfortunate. The one upside is that there’s been a real explosion of fellow feeling,” he added. “People have shared a lot of stories about the hardships that they’ve faced, stories that people at university normally don’t share, because they feel like they’re gonna lose face.”

He elaborated that one union member had talked about moving 16 times because they couldn’t afford rent, with another relaying how they had to commute to New York City from West Virginia.