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Non-tenure track (NTT) faculty represented by Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 721 have expressed outrage following the University’s decision to invoke a religious exemption from the jurisdiction of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), no longer participating in collective bargaining or recognizing labor unions representing its employees for the purposes of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA).

“Our health should be a priority. We should want to combat the things that make us unhealthy: Diseases, tobacco, unhealthy foods,” said Peña, a member of Service Employees International Union Local 721. “It’s discouraging when the government doesn’t want to care for the health of the public.”

Non-tenure track faculty members at the Catholic school located just north of LAX overwhelmingly voted to certify with Service Employees International Union Local 721 in summer 2024.

The collective bargaining bill allows over 800,000 rideshare workers in California to join a union, a move described by David Green, president of SEIU Local 721, as “the largest expansion of private sector collective bargaining in California history.”

Alyssa Ellis is a student close to graduating from UCSB and interned at SEIU 721. “I’m not here to speak as an expert, but as a part of the next generation of the City,” she said. “I’ve had the chance to meet with so many City of Oxnard workers; people who keep Oxnard running. Who would have thought the backbone of Oxnard, the people who keep the City afloat, can barely afford to live here?”

Sam Edelson, who identified himself as a union representative for SEIU Local 721 employees at APCD, read a letter from former APCD employee Elizabeth Gutierrez that described being placed on leave and pressured out of her job after conflicts with a manager … Nicole Collazo, an APCD air quality specialist and SEIU Local 721 steward, described repeated workplace incidents she said have continued and urged the board to help staff seeking classification and pay adjustments for long-serving IT employees.

“Home Depot thrives on having day laborers ready outside their buildings, outside their stores … For them to remain silent while ICE has chased some of the workers into their stores … it’s outrageous.”

Alyssa Ellis, part of Labor Summer’s 2025 cohort of interns, marches at a rally with the SEIU 721, representing service workers.

The action, which began at midnight Tuesday, is being organized by several groups, including the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights Los Angeles, Service Employees International Union Local 721, Central American Resource Center of Los Angeles and the Garment Worker Center.

“If you can’t show up here, don’t shop at these big corporations that won’t speak out about the illegal raids that are happening,” Simboa Wright, vice president of the SEIU Local 721 union that supports the protest, told KTLA’s Ellina Abovian.