On Monday, March 23, at about 11 A.M., about 1,000 professors at New York University officially went on strike. They began picketing outside the John A. Paulson Building at NYU. The strikes are due to failed negotiations between the faculty’s union, Contract Faculty United, and NYU administrators. Initially, the deadline for an offer from the administration was 8 A.M. this morning, but the union pushed their deadline until 11. After an agreement failed to be made by their deadline, faculty continued on with their choice to strike.
Negotiations between the union and the administration have been ongoing for the last few months. Main concerns of the union include compensation, job security, the usage of AI in classrooms, and overall workload. Compensation was the major factor within negotiations and possible deals, as the professors who went on strike are all non-tenured. The union believes that the non-tenured professors are not compensated as highly as tenured professors at the university, despite making up for half of the school’s full-time faculty. On average, non-tenured NYU professors make 36% less than those who have received tenure or are contracted.
Professors are also looking for help to offset the high costs of living in NYC along with fairer wages. The union is hoping to ensure that professors’ salaries reflect living in NYC and correct the inequities they have faced during their low-compensated period. The strike was authorized because of these terms, low wages and little help with living costs, in February by a vote from the union.
In light of the strike, NYU administration has said that the decision was “fundamentally unnecessary,” as they claim to have worked all weekend and overnight Sunday in order to form an agreement with the union. Their offer they claimed to have presented helped to fix the issues the union presented to them included a significant increase in wages and comprehensive benefits. NYU administrators have also said that they have been attempting to solve the issues with the help of a mediator for the past five months, but the union refused. Previously, the NYU administration has accused the union of attempting to disrupt student education, and have held their point that the strike was held despite their attempts to find an agreement.
Classes are expected to be continued throughout the strike, despite its impact on about 25% of the university’s classes. NYU will be utilizing remote learning, substitutes, and outside instructors to ensure student learning is not disrupted during this time. As for the strike, its end will not be seen until an agreement is successfully made between the union and NYU administration.
