We’re Voting YES for a Stronger SCA
We have a clear choice in this election. Voting YES would form our union to fight to reverse a 30-year trend of low-pay and disappearing benefits. Once recognized, USC would have a legal obligation to bargain with our union over wages, benefits and workplace rights. We would secure our benefits in a legally binding and enforceable contract. We will be joining 100,000 UAW academic employees in working together to make higher ed workplaces more just, fair, and equitable.
USC’s School of Cinematic Arts is the premier film program in the world, and without adjuncts – who do 70 percent of the teaching and mentoring – it would not be able to thrive.
Over the course of hundreds of conversations, we’ve seen that School of Cinematic Arts Adjuncts share many of the same challenges as academic employees all over the nation. These include unfair workloads that deprive students of the attention they deserve, low salaries that don’t match the skyrocketing cost of living, cuts to benefits and hours that leave Adjuncts struggling to get by, and a lack of policies to attract and retain diverse talent. These challenges add unnecessary stress to the Adjunct experience and reduce our ability to provide students with the quality education we pride ourselves on, and they deserve.
Right now, USC administrators decide unilaterally if, how, and when to address problems affecting Adjuncts without taking into account our lived experiences. With collective bargaining, we will have a seat at the negotiating table as equals. With strong voter turnout, and a high percentage of Yes! Votes, we can negotiate a contract that not only improves our pay, benefits, and workplace rights, but also ensures the security and stability that enables us to represent SCA as our best selves. With the continuity of a certified union, we can project our voices beyond the campus and build a more connected community within it.
Over the past months in town halls and other meetings, SCA Adjuncts have already identified common priorities that we could immediately address through a contract. Consider the thoughts of our colleagues and these basic reasons to vote “union yes” by mail in early February.
How to Vote:
SCA adjuncts will vote by mail starting early February:
- Mail ballots will start arriving in early February.
- Instructions for returning your ballot will be included.
- Didn’t receive a ballot? Email info@adjunctfacultyalliance.org
The last day for ballots to be received (note: received, not postmarked) by the National Labor Relations Board will be on February 22. Adjuncts are encouraged to fill out and mail their ballots the same day that they receive it to ensure that everyone’s vote is counted.
Fair treatment of Adjuncts protects the quality of education at SCA
As Adjuncts, our work is the driving force behind SCA’s teaching mission — we make valuable contributions that have earned SCA international renown and support day-to-day operations. All SCA Adjuncts contribute to the institution’s goal of training the next generation of media makers, collaborators, and scholars. However, USC’s poor wages and working conditions are causing it to lose teaching talent, and students pay the price from an increasing churn in professors. Right now, wage increases are rare and solely determined by the USC administration, amongst themselves, whenever they choose to do so. Despite the fact that students pay tens of thousands of dollars to attend USC, we are not guaranteed the security of a salary that adequately reflects our living conditions and the effort we put forth.
It is time for us to come together and demand salaries and other benefits that reflect the value of our contributions, and to secure them in a contract, so we can focus on the quality of our teaching instead of how to make ends meet.
Collective bargaining can create a more accessible Adjunct experience.
Many students increasingly spend the vast majority of their time at USC being taught and advised by adjunct faculty. Adjuncts spend significant time outside the classroom with our students in office hours, tutoring sessions, and individualized meetings that guide them in developing careers in our fields of study. A lack of institutional support combined with high cost of living means SCA Adjuncts are forced to find additional teaching positions to make ends meet. This can mean rushing to teach courses at universities after our classes at USC despite the fact that we want to give students the time and attention they deserve. It can also mean struggling to find health insurance when USC cuts our hours and takes away our benefits. As SCA Adjuncts, we deserve security and reliable health insurance while we teach the next generation of mediamakers.
By standing together, we can call for the university to embody economic justice by granting all Adjuncts a living wage, secure employment, and affordable healthcare.
Adjuncts power specialized education at USC.
SCA Adjunct faculty are leaders in our industries. We are directors who lead with vision, producers who build talented teams, writers who craft stories that move people, animators who make meaning visual, and interactive artists who wield the power of digital media. We are cinematographers and editors, art directors and sound technicians. While the university insists their professors offer something “special,” they don’t want to compensate us for that “special” quality. Adjunct faculty lack basic job security that would allow us to focus on our students rather than wondering if we will need to find a different job next semester. Our wages lag behind those of Adjuncts at unionized peer institutions like UCLA and NYU. USC should be an industry leader, rather than leading a race to the bottom.
The university would be unable to function without our labor and specialized expertise. We believe our students benefit alongside us from our labor being fully appreciated through improved resources, job security, and fair compensation.
Together we can make USC more equitable and inclusive.
Inequalities — including those based on gender, race, and sexual orientation — continue to create barriers for many of the most talented to enter the academic and entertainment workforce. Many Adjuncts from diverse backgrounds are forced to seek employment elsewhere due to the lack of institutional support, including low pay and diminishing benefits.
USC says it wants to recruit and retain diverse faculty, but recent policies fail to reflect its stated goal. Adjuncts are losing their second classes, which ensure access to healthcare benefits; wages are lower than pay at peer institutions; job offers can be revoked with only a few days’ notice. Though much work remains to be done, adjunct faculty, graduate students, and postdocs in the UAW have helped make progress on many of these issues, both at the bargaining table and in policy advocacy through the UAW.