Who is the New School Full-Time Faculty Union?

We are a majority group of Full Time Faculty from across The New School working together across ranks, appointment types, and divisions to form a union that will allow us to bargain collectively with university leadership. We are invested in issues such as pay and workload equity, child and family care, health benefits, and more.

We are currently organizing independently and are not affiliated with any union. We will democratically choose a union to affiliate with later in the process. In May 2025, we launched a union card drive, the first concrete step in seeking union representation.

Why are we organizing the New School Full-Time Faculty Union now?

We are organizing a full-time faculty union because we deserve to have a meaningful say in our working conditions. We are also creating a community in the face of forced alienation and atomization across faculty, divisions and schools to offer support to each other.

Our existing governance structures (e.g., the University Faculty Senate and the college councils and assemblies) are essential, but they are separate from the full-time faculty's ability to determine their own terms and conditions of employment through collective bargaining with union representation.

Now more than ever, we must work together amid the threat of forced Voluntary Resignations, the closures and consolidation of schools, and the closure of academic programs and doctoral programs without working with the full-time faculty community.

As educational institutions are defunded and public institutions are dismantled, we must fortify ourselves using the tools at our disposal. We believe that the only path forward is to change our institutions towards sustainable success into a precarious future is on the basis of pedagogy and from the vantage point of the respective fields taught. As leaders in our fields full-time faculty are best positioned to support this important work. A strong collective bargaining agreement with our employer that ensures our basic livelihood and future work, can be a powerful tool not only for improving our working conditions but also for protecting ourselves and each other against threats to academic freedom, research funding, visa status, and more.

Through collective bargaining, we will finally have the binding decision-making power we deserve.

Is it true that unionized faculty do not receive raises?

No.  For the last three years, the New School Human Resources has advised the non-unionized full-time faculty that we are not eligible for raises in the same manner as unionized faculty at the school. In an email dated September 3, 2025, management stated that “Non-union full-time faculty must meet all of the following conditions….”

What is not stated is that unionized faculty are entitled to salary increases as negotiated by their unions and contained in their collective bargaining agreements. And so while non-union full-time faculty have no guarantee of receiving any increases in compensation, unionized faculty receive guaranteed, mandated, scheduled salary increases as negotiated by their union’s negotiation committees.

Why is Unionization important for the faculty at the New School?

Unionization is important because it is only through union representation and collective bargaining that we can be guaranteed dates by which the administration must provide faculty with notification for reappointment and non-reappointment.

Currently, many RTA faculty who have been reviewed in the summer of 2025 for renewal of their contract for the AY2026/27 have still not been contacted or informed about their renewal. That means that they do not have written confirmation that they will be employed in July 2026. RTA faculty up for renewal next year have not been informed about the process, nor the timeline. This puts everyone in difficult precarities, unable to plan for their professional life, nor their private life, distracting them from their work as faculty members at TNS. RTA faculty have no community to support them through these processes, nor best practices in place, no timeline they can rely on.

It is only with unionization that we could negotiate terms and conditions of employment that could protect us against arbitrary decisions such as these by management. It is only through collective bargaining that the RTA faculty could have protections such as provisions on appointment and reappointment with notification deadlines and due process grievance and arbitration procedures to protect against arbitrary and capricious terminations of contracts.

In addition, where there is retrenchment, a union contract could provide protections such as mandating management to make decisions based on seniority within job title and consideration of programmatic needs or faculty expertise.

The faculty at Parsons have been told that restructuring will result in the elimination of the School of Art, Media and Technology. In the event of restructuring and consolidation, a union contract could provide protections requiring consultation and negotiation with the union on any changes that may impact on the continued employment of faculty at all schools. A union could also provide the legal services that we may need.

No one is safe, together we can organize and support each other.

How is The New School Full-Time Faculty Union different from the AAUP? Can I belong to both organizations?

Yes. You can be a member of an academic union such as the TNS Full-Time Faculty Union and maintain membership in the AAUP.

The American Association of University Professors has two types of chapters—advocacy and collective bargaining. The New School chapter is an Advocacy Chapter. Currently, The New School Chapter of AAUP does not collect internal dues. To be a member of The New School Chapter of AAUP, you must also be a member of the national association (AAUP.org). Your dues go entirely to the national association.

The American Association of University Professors (AAUP) is a unique, hybrid professional association  focused on protecting academic freedom, shared governance, and faculty economic status. Unlike faculty who are members of and represented by a union where the focus is on negotiating terms and conditions of employment through collective bargaining, the AAUP, chapters in New York State function only as advocacy chapters. They prioritize faculty autonomy and professional standards with academic advocacy on behalf of the membership in the AAUP chapter.

What is a Union Card Drive, and what is involved in signing a union card?

Signing a union card is an expression of interest in a union. It is a digital form (in our case) that states the person signing authorizes the named union, should it become official, to represent the signatory in the process of collective bargaining with their employer.

Is signing a union card legal?

Yes. Signing a union card to express interest in forming a union is legal for full-time faculty.

The National Labor Relations Act, (1935) guarantees the right of employees to organize and bargain collectively with their employers and to engage in “protected concerted activity”. This includes meeting with your coworkers to discuss unionization.

We are undoubtedly stronger together. Academic workers face very real challenges right now, and we want everyone to be comfortable and confident when signing up for their union.

What are my rights to join a union and what can the New School do during a union campaign?

It is your legally protected right to organize a union!

These rights are protected by Section 7 of the NLRA which gives you the right to join or support a union.

You have a right to participate in meetings, distribute read and discuss union material non-work areas, wear union buttons, t-shirts, etc., Sign a TNS FT faculty union card, and organize your co-worker to support this union.

It is illegal for the New School to take any of the following actions. These rights are protected under Section 8 of the NLRA. It would be illegal for the New School to commit any of the following:  threaten, ****fire, layoff, discipline, harass, transfer or reassign a faculty member because they support the union, favor faculty who do not support the union over those that do in reappointment decisions, promotions or enforcement of rules, promise a pay increase, ask your opinion of the union.

If you are approached by anyone from the New School in administration and asked about your position on the union, you do not have to answer and you should contact the New School Faculty Union at tnsfulltimefaculty@gmail.com to let us know.

How will my information be handled?

Our Organizing Committee is committed to keeping member information confidential. Signatory names will be shared with the neutral, external arbitrator to verify the card drive; but any information you provide will NOT be shared with the University.

Please use your personal email address when you sign the card so we can keep you informed about our efforts to build a full time faculty union at the New School.