This is an important reminder that tomorrow, Tuesday April 29, is the final day to request a new ballot from the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to vote in our union election. If you have not yet received your ballot, please call (212) 264 0300 to ensure you will be able to participate. Click here for more info on how to request a ballot!

The election is being conducted by U.S. mail. To participate once you have received your ballot, follow these instructions below:

1. Mark your ballot. 
2. Voters must sign the outside of the envelope in which the ballot is returned.
3. After signing the back, put in the mail! No postage is required.

The SVA administration has continued to discourage faculty from voting ‘yes’. You can find our response to their most recent communication on our website here. Additionally, watch our short video to learn more why many of us are excited to vote for a bigger voice at SVA!

To learn more about our vote, and answers to any questions, visit our website or reply to this email and an organizer will reach out. 

Best,

Justin Elm; Art History, Visual & Critical Studies, Honors
On behalf of SVAFAC-UAW Organizing Committee

Our first full week of voting on our union is wrapping up! Follow our Instagram to see why many faculty across SVA are voting “yes” this week.

Have you received your ballot yet? If not, this is an important reminder that you have until 5pm this coming Tuesday, April 29th to request a ballot from the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). 

If you have not received a ballot yet, please call the NLRB at (212)-264 0300; or you can call the labor board agent directly at (212) 776-8645.

The number will likely go to voicemail, but leaving a message is all that is required to have a new ballot sent. Simply state your name, that you are a faculty member participating in the School of Visual Arts vote, and your correct address. The NLRB will only call you back if they have questions regarding your request. 

If you have any additional questions, you can visit our website and FAQ page. You can also see our running responses to some of the SVA administration’s most recent communications here. 

Merlin Ural Rivera, Humanities & Sciences
On behalf of SVAFAC-UAW Organizing Committee

We are writing to remind you of our fourth faculty union Town Hall this Saturday, April 19th at 12:30PM on zoom. Join us to meet fellow faculty from across SVA, get answers to questions, and hear from unionized colleagues from Parsons and CalArts about their own unionization process. Please RSVP here so we know how many people to expect, and to receive the zoom link in advance of the meeting.

Our ballots have been mailed by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) as of yesterday, April 15th! Faculty should keep an eye out for ballots the next couple days. For more information on our ongoing union election you can visit our website, and FAQ page, and follow us on Instagram.

Please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions or thoughts. 

Mike Cavallaro, BFA Comics
On behalf of SVAFAC-UAW Organizing Committee

Exhilarating week ahead! Our election fast approaches, and ballots will be popping in your mailboxes soon. Faculty from across a wide number of departments have signed an open letter encouraging our colleagues to join us in voting “YES” for SVA Faculty United-UAW as our union. Click here to read the letter explaining how we believe voting yes will help us build a stronger SVA.

As we continue our work to ensure that all faculty can make an informed decision on unionization, we will hold a third informational faculty town hall on Saturday, April 19th at 12:30pm over zoom that everyone is invited to attend. Join us to meet with other faculty, hear from unionized colleagues at other institutions, and get answers to any questions about our upcoming vote. Click here to register for our virtual town hall. 

You can find more information on our upcoming vote, including why we’re voting “yes”, on our website here.

Best,

Justin Elm, Art History, Visual & Critical Studies, Honors
On behalf of SVAFAC-UAW Organizing Committee

We are excited for our rapidly approaching vote on faculty unionization at SVA! Given the importance of this election, and with the administration intensifying its effort to encourage us to vote no, we will provide ongoing and responsive information as we want to ensure all faculty can make an informed decision. For more information on why we’re voting yes to establish a stronger faculty voice at SVA, click here. 

We also wanted to provide some analysis of the administration’s most recent email against unionization. You can also read more information on our FAQ page here. 

We will be communicating additional information as we approach our vote, but we hope you take the opportunity to keep informed in other ways as well so you get ready to participate in this historic election. Our numerous faculty union town halls have fielded wide ranging questions from faculty and provided energetic discussion on reasons we are forming a union. We will keep you posted on additional upcoming events, and also invite you to read the FAQ on our website. 

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at svafacultyunited.uaw@gmail.com. You can also follow our Instagram, Twitter, and Bluesky (@svafac_uaw) for more information. 

Best,

Jason Little, BFA Comics
on behalf of SVA/FAC-UAW Organizing Committee

Dear Colleagues,

We are writing to remind you of our next faculty union Town Hall this Saturday, March 29th at 12:30PM on zoom. Meet fellow faculty from across SVA, get answers to questions about the unionization process, and discuss next steps in our campaign, including our upcoming vote. Please RSVP here so we know how many people to expect, and to receive the zoom link in advance of the meeting.

SVA faculty gathered on zoom last Friday for another union town hall!

In the past week, we’ve also seen some exhilarating updates on the wave of academic and arts workers organizing across the country: faculty and staff at California Institute of the Arts voted overwhelmingly in favor of unionization by a 92% margin. We are excited to take the next steps and soon have the opportunity to vote on our union, so we can bargain as equals with SVA and join well over 100,000 other teachers, researchers, and other academic workers in the UAW. Our upcoming election is currently one of the largest for academic workers nationally; now it’s time to demonstrate that a democratic voice matters, and workers have power! 

Our election will be a mail-in ballot. You can read the full election agreement from the NLRB here – please take note of these important dates:

• Ballots sent out Tuesday, April 15th
• Ballots due Tuesday, May 13th

You are eligible to vote and will receive a ballot if:

• You have taught at least one course in Summer 2024, Fall 2024, or Spring 2025; or;
• You have taught at least one course in at least two of the following time periods:
  • 2022-2023 (Summer 2022, Fall 2022, Spring 2023)
  • 2023-2024 (Summer 2023, Fall 2023, Spring 2024)

Finally, yesterday, the SVA administration sent an email to faculty about our campaign. SVA expressed a clear preference that we vote “No” on unionization. While this is disappointing, it’s not surprising, given many U.S. employers attempt to convince employees to vote against organizing a union. You can find additional information about the steps we’ve taken in our unionization process, and other common questions, on our website. 

Please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions or thoughts. 

Best,

Joan Hilty, BFA Comics
On behalf of SVA-FAC UAW Organizing Committee

We are excited to announce that we have reached an election agreement with SVA and the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB); and dates for our union election have been scheduled! You can read the full election agreement from the NLRB here.

Our election will be a mail-in ballot. Please take note of these important dates:

• Ballots sent out Tuesday, April 15th
• Ballots due Tuesday, May 13th

RSVP here for our next SVA/FAC-UAW Town Hall on Saturday, March 29!

Please join our next SVA/FAC-UAW town hall this Saturday, March 29th at 12:30PM on Zoom. It is important that we do the work to make an informed decision on this important question. Our numerous town halls over this year, and the last few semesters, have provided energetic discussion and shared knowledge of the many reasons so many of us want a union at SVA.

As faculty, we have a historic opportunity in this election. If a majority votes “yes” for our union, SVA Faculty United - UAW, SVA will have a legal obligation to negotiate with faculty as equals over our pay, benefits, and working conditions. The more of us who participate in this important decision and vote yes, the more effectively we will be able to negotiate for improvements with SVA.

Now more than ever, it’s more important that we have an organized voice. As we approach our union election, we encourage you to keep in mind some basic information about collective bargaining:

1. Unions provide a stronger collective voice. Thousands of faculty and arts workers in the UAW have used collective bargaining to negotiate improvements at colleges and cultural institutions across the country — from enhanced compensation and benefits, to stronger rights around job security, professional development, and more, so that faculty don’t have to fend for ourselves alone. Read about some of the gains unionized faculty have won at other institutions here.

2. Unions provide a democratic voice. As SVA faculty, we make up our own union. We will elect a bargaining committee of our peers to negotiate with SVA, we will collectively decide and vote on our bargaining priorities, and we will vote on any contract before it goes into effect. Other faculty unions have consistently shown that robust democratic participation helps establish stronger rights, protections, and improvements through collective bargaining.

3. Unions enhance our ability to continue to make SVA a better place to teach and to learn. We are part of a growing national movement organizing in academia and the arts, with 120,000 college and university workers who have already become part of the UAW, including New York Film Academy, Barnard College, NYU, and Parsons (The New School) in NYC.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at svafacultyunited.uaw@gmail.com, or check out our website FAQs. We will be sure to keep everyone informed with any additional information.

Best,

Joan Hilty, BFA Comics
On behalf of SVAFAC-UAW Organizing Committee

Dear Colleagues,

We’ll be hosting two informational faculty town halls: Friday, March 21 at 3PM, and Saturday, March 29 at 12:30PM, on Zoom. Hang with your fellow faculty, get answers to questions about the unionization process, and brush up on the next steps in our campaign now that we’ve filed our petition with the National Labor Board (NLRB). Please RSVP here so we know how many people to expect.

• Town Hall on Friday, 3/21 @ 3:00PM [UPDATE: on Zoom]
• Town Hall on Saturday, 3/29 @ 12:30PM [on Zoom] 

After more than two years of building our campaign and speaking to hundreds of colleagues, we’ve arrived at this astounding and singular moment. We’re super stoked to have the opportunity to vote on our union, so we can bargain as equals with SVA. 

Please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions or thoughts, or to let us know why you’re excited and curious for next steps!

Best,

Edwin Rivera, Humanities & Sciences
On behalf of SVAFAC-UAW Organizing Committee

Dear Colleagues,

After delivering our open letter to the President’s office earlier this week, we’re excited to announce that we have  filed our petition with the regional National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) with majority support!

This petition initiates the process of scheduling an official election to vote on forming SVA Faculty United-UAW (SVAFAC-UAW) as our Union. If a majority votes “yes” and our union is certified, SVA will be legally required to bargain with us as equals. At that point, we would elect a bargaining committee, collectively determine our priorities, and begin negotiations with the SVA administration.

We hope the SVA administration will engage with us in good faith and meet with us to establish a constructive dialogue. We also urge them not to adopt an anti-union stance in order to delay or challenge our democratic vote. We will continue to keep everyone updated as we move forward.

After a majority of faculty signed up in support of our union, we filed at the NLRB for a democratic vote!

Attend an upcoming informational Town Hall!

As we approach our election, it’s essential that everyone has the opportunity to ask questions and stay informed. Please save the date for two upcoming faculty town halls, where we’ll share campaign updates, answer questions, and hear from unionized faculty across the city about their experiences with collective bargaining.

• RSVP for in-person town hall on Friday, 3/21 @ 3:00PM [Location TBD]
• RSVP for Zoom town hall on Saturday, 3/29 @ 12:30PM 

Please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions,

Merlin Ural Rivera, Humanities & Sciences
On behalf of SVAFAC-UAW Organizing Committee

We’re writing with a brief update on our campaign – this morning, we delivered an Open Letter to President Rhodes signed by faculty from across SVA! The letter informed the administration of our hope to establish a constructive dialogue, and urged that SVA not engage in any attempts to delay our right to a timely and fair vote on unionization in the future. We also requested a meeting to discuss how we can best proceed in a constructive manner. 

On Wednesday, faculty delivered an open letter to President Rhodes, signed by colleagues from across nearly all departments at SVA!

Our next step is to file with the regional National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to hold a democratic election on forming our union. If  a majority of faculty vote ‘yes’ to SVA FAC-UAW, the NLRB can certify our union and SVA would have a legal obligation to bargain with us. We would then elect a bargaining committee, democratically establish our priorities, and begin negotiations with SVA for a strong first contract.

Academic and arts workers in the UAW, including faculty at NYU, Parsons (The New School), and Barnard College, have played a significant role in improving teaching working conditions across the city. We hope that SVA will choose to refrain from any efforts to delay. We will be sure to keep you updated as the process moves forward. 

Please feel free to reach out with any questions. To get more involved in our organizing effort to improve our experience at SVA, click here! 

Best,

Justin Elm, Art History, Honors, Visual & Critical Studies
Jensine Eckwall, BFA Illustration

On behalf of SVA/FAC-UAW Organizing Committee