Catholic Labor Network Calls on LMU Admin, Board to Return to the Bargaining Table

In a letter sent Sept. 26, the Catholic Labor Network called on LMU President Thomas Poon and the board of trustees to return to the bargaining table with the university’s non-tenure track (NTT) faculty.

The letter comes after LMU’s admin and board asserted on Friday, Sept. 12, that it will not recognize or bargain with unionized NTT faculty, citing an alleged religious exemption from 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.

“Catholic Social Teaching does not require that a Catholic employer grant every economic demand made by its employees, but it does call for such an institution to bargain with the representatives that its employees have chosen,” says the letter, signed by leaders of the network, which advances Catholic social teaching on labor and work. “We prayerfully request that you honor the Loyola Marymount University’s Catholic identity by returning to the bargaining table as Catholic doctrine requires.”

The network also sent a letter to Archbishop José H. Gomez, calling on him to “counsel” LMU’s admin and board to resume bargaining with NTT faculty.