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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025
CONTACT: Tim Sandoval, 213-218-5855, tim.sandoval@seiu721.org
Los Angeles — Non-tenure track (NTT) faculty at Loyola Marymount University (LMU) overwhelmingly voted to authorize an Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) strike in response to the administration and board of trustees’ outrageous attempt to shut down their union.
On Sept. 12, LMU administrators and board members announced that the university would stop recognizing the NTT faculty members’ union and — for the first time — invoke its alleged “religious exemption” from the jurisdiction of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), which governs collective bargaining for private employers. The announcement came after nearly 10 months of bargaining for a union contract between the university and NTT faculty members — who approved joining SEIU Local 721 by a vote of nearly 90% in summer 2024 in an election certified by the NLRB.
The vote gives the faculty’s elected Bargaining Action Team the power to call for a ULP strike should one be necessary.
“This vote sends a message to LMU’s admin and board: We’re ready to fight,” says Bryan Wisch, a rhetorical arts instructor at LMU and a 2015 graduate of the university. “LMU must get back to the bargaining table so we can negotiate a fair contract in good faith. We’ve garnered support from people across the Los Angeles region and the nation, and our students, LMU staff, faculty colleagues, and alumni stand with us.”
Since the admin and board’s announcement, LMU students, faculty, staff, alumni, and community supporters have condemned what they view as LMU’s immoral union-busting.
On Tues., Sept. 16, union supporters marched to LMU’s Provost Community Conversations event and denounced campus President Thomas Poon, Interim Provost Kat Weaver, and other administrators over their announcement about the union. That same week, LMU’s Faculty Senate passed a resolution urging the university to return to the bargaining table with NTT faculty.
On Thurs. Sept. 19, 10 current and emeritus Catholic theologians in LMU’s Department of Theological Studies sent a letter to President Poon and the board of trustees saying that LMU’s position on the NTT faculty union is incompatible with Catholic social teaching.
As instructors and supporters have made their voices heard, the unionized faculty members’ story has gotten national attention, with articles featuring the union’s fight in National Catholic Reporter, the LA Times, Inside Higher Ed, and many more.
“LMU’s board and administration has lost credibility and severely damaged the reputation of the university,” says Laura Huffman, a senior instructor of French. “The only way they can set things right is by returning to the bargaining table in good faith with NTT faculty who overwhelmingly voted to form our union with SEIU 721. Only then will LMU be living up to its commitments to Catholic and Jesuit values, social justice, equity, and human dignity. If the admin and board don’t do the right thing, NTT faculty members are prepared to act.”
The nearly 400 faculty members in the union serve in the Bellarmine College of Liberal Arts (BCLA), the College of Communication and Fine Arts (CFA), and the School of Film and Television (SFTV), and teach courses in various fields, including animation, communications, dance, English, ethnic studies, film, history, music, philosophy, photography, political science, screenwriting, theatre arts, urban studies, and more.
For decades, as part of a nationwide trend, NTT faculty at LMU have faced low pay, short-term contracts, and minimal opportunities to advance at the university. Many NTT faculty members work multiple jobs just to survive in the expensive Los Angeles region. The faculty formed their union with SEIU 721 to gain better job security, living wages, and the rights and protections that they deserve.
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The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 721 is one of California’s largest unions and represents non-tenure track (NTT) faculty at multiple Southern California colleges including Occidental College, Whittier College, Otis College of Art and Design, Laguna College, the University of Southern California, and the University of San Diego.
Learn more at lmufacultyunion.org