Recent News

President Mills and Provost Dopico claim NYU does not have enough money to pay Contract Faculty what they deserve. The more than $150 million price tag on NYU’s new London site – a price tag which, to borrow the words of President Mills and Provost Dopico themselves, is “exorbitant” – indicates otherwise. Furthermore, the dynamic duplicitous duo claimed in their dispatch that CFU is demanding nearly 50% base salary increases. In reality, over half of CFU’s bargaining unit stands to receive only a 3% pay increase in the admin’s current proposal.

During AY 2023-2024, Contract Faculty were paid only 2% of NYU’s total salary expenditure. For over 20 years, NYU has chosen to grow its contract and contingent faculty at an unprecedented rate. NYU thinks that replacing dependable workers with “gig” workers – replacing tenured faculty, for instance, with contract and adjunct faculty – is a failsafe way of cutting costs in order to further line the pockets of highly compensated administrators. 

President Mills’ recent missive also claims that negotiations must move to mediation. Third party mediation is not a substitute for a meaningful negotiation process. Throughout bargaining, CFU members have participated eagerly, respectfully, and productively. However, NYU administrators are either too lazy or too scared to continue negotiating in good faith with CFU. Shame on NYU administrators for demonstrating such cowardice. 

Beyond the wage basics, the NYU administration is seeking to abolish reappointment and promotion committees. They want to flatten differences across schools, departments, and disciplines when it comes to deciding the standards for reappointment and promotion. They’ve refused to agree to meaningful job security provisions that would protect our academic freedom. They won’t negotiate over common-sense guardrails against AI replacing instructional work. Their offers for professional development are paltry: a single $1,250 grant per year, and only for faculty with no other research funding. Their proposed sabbatical system is so inadequate that it would take 50 years for all of us to have the opportunity to take one. They won’t guarantee our full participation in the faculty governance of our departments, programs, institutes, schools, or institute schools.

We, the members of GSOC, know that unions do not consider strikes lightly. If two-thirds of CFU members vote “yes” on the strike authorization vote, CFU’s Bargaining Committee will be authorized to call a strike. Withholding labor – going on strike – is the single most effective means that workers have of winning strong contracts. Unions do not call strikes for fun. Unions call strikes to win necessary working conditions that management thus far has refused to agree upon. 

If CFU does go on strike, GSOC members will refrain from scabbing and from doing struck work. “Scabbing” is the practice of replacing workers who are out on strike, undercutting the striking workers’ leverage. GSOC knows that the working conditions of all university employees are tied, and that better conditions for some workers mean better conditions for all workers. We will not participate in the university’s disgusting union-busting practices by scabbing or doing struck work. 

We, the several thousand graduate student workers at NYU, upon whose backs the university’s intellectual production and daily functioning rest, urge the NYU administration to stop stalling and agree to a fair contract now. Solidarity, now and forever!