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