Union Representation

A union is an organization that serves as the exclusive bargaining representative of a defined group of employees for purposes of negotiating the terms and conditions of their employment, such as pay, benefits and working conditions. The negotiation process is known as “collective bargaining.” The “bargaining unit” is the group of employees that the union represents.  If a union is elected to be the exclusive bargaining representative for a bargaining unit, negotiations regarding terms and conditions of employment—for example as related to stipends, time off, discipline, and more—must be solely between the employer and the union, not between the employer and individual employees.

The NLRA is the foundational federal labor law for private sector employees and employers that sets forth the rights of employees, unions and employers in, among other things, bargaining, representation elections and protected concerted activity.

The NLRB is the federal agency responsible for enforcing the NLRA, including supervising representation elections and deciding issues concerning the interpretation of the NLRA. The NLRB is comprised of a five-member board and is overseen by a General Counsel, all of whom are appointed by the President and confirmed by the U.S. Senate.

There are several steps to forming a union.  Typically, it begins with Union organizers seeking to collect authorization cards from potential bargaining unit members, i.e., here, the group of non-tenure track full-time faculty and postdocs the union seeks to represent.  If the union organizers collect signed authorization cards from at least 30% of the potential bargaining unit members, they can file a petition with the NLRB or negotiate an agreement with the University to hold an election as to whether they should be the union representing the University’s non-tenure track full-time faculty and postdocs. The outcome of an election would be determined by a simple majority of votes cast.  For example, if only 100 out of 500 eligible non-tenured faculty members vote, 51 voters would determine the outcome for all 500 members in their respective bargaining unit, as well as future non-tenured faculty members.  This means it is very important for all eligible faculty and postdocs to participate in the election.

An authorization card is a legally binding document that indicates the signer supports holding a union election and authorizes the union to be the card signer’s exclusive representative for the purposes of negotiating the terms and conditions of the signer’s employment.

A union election is a secret-ballot election conducted and supervised by representatives of the NLRB, or an agreed-upon neutral third-party. Voting generally takes place in person or via a mail-in process. The parties may also agree to alternative election arrangements. Each eligible voter is free to vote however they want in the election, regardless of whether the voter has previously signed an authorization card.

The University and the Union agreed to conduct an election pursuant to a private election agreement (“PEA”).  A PEA is a negotiated agreement between a union and an employer that privatizes—outside the NLRB’s jurisdiction—the entire election process under the oversight of a neutral arbitrator chosen by the University and the Union.  The procedures under a PEA will generally follow those utilized by the NLRB, including an in-person process, but may also include online ballots for those living (or taking a verified pre-approved vacation) outside of the Syracuse Metropolitan area.

There are two bargaining units in this election—one for non-tenure track full-time faculty and one for postdocs.

The non-tenure track full-time faculty bargaining unit includes non-tenure track full-time faculty holding the following job codes:

Teaching Professor, Associate Teaching Professor, Assistant Teaching Professor, Professor of Practice, Research Professor, Research Associate Professor, Research Assistant Professor.

The non-tenure track full-time faculty bargaining unit excludes:

• Syracuse University Law School
• any Department Chair (e.g., including, Associate, Assistant, Deputy);
• any Dean (e.g., Dean, Senior Associate, Associate, Assistant);
• any Director of Schools, Centers, Institutes, Study Away programs, or Programs independent of a Department and run at the School or College level;
• Executive Directors;
• Managing Directors;
• Executive Editors;
• any member of the University Leadership Team or who otherwise report to the Chancellor or Provost;
• all individuals holding an in-unit title as a courtesy appointment; retirees from Syracuse University;
• visiting faculty; visiting scholars; visiting teaching professors; and other visiting faculty not employed by Syracuse University; visiting professors on non-renewable appointments
• any employee based outside of the United States;
• part-time employees;
• Students;
• Employees covered by any other bargaining unit at Syracuse University;
• And other standard exclusions – e.g., office clerical employees; temporary employees; and all confidential employees, guards, supervisors and managerial employees.

The postdoc bargaining unit includes all Postdoctoral Scholars and Faculty Fellows employed by Syracuse University.

The postdoc unit excludes:

• Postdoctoral Fellows
• Syracuse University Law School
• Visiting Postdocs; any Postdocs based outside of the United States
• Part-time employees
• Students
• And other standard exclusions—e.g., office clerical employees; temporary employees; and all confidential employees, guards, supervisors and managerial employees.

Only those non-tenure track full-time faculty and postdocs who are members of the potential bargaining units who were employed as of April 15, 2026, and at the time of the election can vote.

Although non-tenure track full-time faculty and postdocs cannot be forced to join a union (more on that below), any who fall within the classification as a member of the proposed bargaining units would be bound by the results of an election and subject to the terms of the collective bargaining agreement negotiated by a union. This is true even if non-tenure track full-time faculty and postdocs abstain from voting in an election or choose not to join the union after a successful election.  This also applies to future in-unit faculty and postdocs who will not have a chance to vote.

Some private institutions have unions representing non-tenure track faculty and postdocs. Some public universities also recognize such unions, but some states have written into their labor laws provisions that expressly exempt academic decisions of universities from topics that are appropriate for collective bargaining. These specific protections in the state laws prevent unions from interfering in academic matters at public universities. Federal labor law is not tailored to address these needs in higher education, and these protections are not written into the NLRA.

Unions primary source of revenues is collecting dues from members.  Unions charge dues to their members to fund the operations of the union. Dues can range in amount. Each union establishes its own dues formula, but they are typically around 2% of an in-unit faculty member or postdocs’ total compensation. Unions may also charge an initiation fee to join.

Non-tenure track full-time faculty and postdocs who choose not to join the union would not have to pay dues, but they may have to pay agency fees. Under federal law, if provided for in a collective bargaining agreement, a union can compel members of a bargaining unit either to become dues-paying union members or to pay the union an agency or representation fee. Agency fees are used to pay for the costs associated with union operations such as collective bargaining and contract administration. Agency fee amounts are set by the union, but are typically equivalent to the amount of union dues.

Collective bargaining is the term used to describe the negotiation process between an employer and a union to reach an agreement on the bargaining unit’s terms and conditions employment. Matters subject to collective bargaining include wages, hours, working conditions, procedures for dispute resolution, along with other topics.

A collective bargaining agreement is a legally binding contract between an employer and a union that memorializes the terms and conditions of employment negotiated through collective bargaining.

At this stage, it is impossible to know what would be included in a collective bargaining agreement. Any promises of increases in pay or improvements to benefits are not guaranteed.

No draft or proposed collective bargaining agreement will be developed unless and until eligible non-tenure track full-time faculty members and/or postdocs vote on whether they want to be represented by a union.

If either or both potential bargaining units vote in favor of a union—by a majority of those voting, not a majority of the total eligible bargaining unit members—and the union is certified, the union and the University could then begin negotiating the terms of a collective bargaining agreement.

All non-tenure track full-time faculty and postdocs classified as members of the bargaining unit, whether or not they voted in favor of the union, would be subject to and bound by the terms of the finalized collective bargaining agreement.

There is no way to know. There is a common misperception that current pay levels, remuneration, and benefits serve as a floor and can only improve with collective bargaining. There is no guarantee that a union will obtain improvements in any area.  Under federal labor law, parties are not required to reach an agreement or agree to any specific contract proposal—the NLRA just requires the parties to collectively bargain in good faith.  Specifically, Syracuse University would have no obligation to agree to anything SEIU proposes in bargaining if that proposal is not acceptable to the University. SEIU also cannot guarantee that they can deliver on any promise for improvement made by the union during the campaign. As a result, employees could receive terms and conditions that are better than, the same or worse than what they currently have.

If faculty and postdocs elect to be represented by a union, the union would become the exclusive voice for all non-tenure track full-time faculty members and postdocs in the respective bargaining units on all issues related to the terms and conditions of employment. A collective bargaining agreement would set the terms and conditions for all members of these bargaining units. The University will not be able to deviate from these possibly one-size-fits all rules for individual postdocs or non-tenure track full-time faculty, absent agreement by the union.

It is not clear how unionizing might affect off-site research activities. With respect to postdocs, if such activities are characterized as part of their work appointment, funding for conferences, travel, remote research and other activities could be subject to negotiation with a union. Some universities with postdoctoral researcher unions have travel-related provisions included within their contracts.

With or without a union, we have always and will continue to engage in productive dialogue with our non-tenure track full-time faculty and postdocs.

The University respects the important role of labor unions in our workplace. Syracuse University will not take a formal position during this process, other than to support all our faculty and postdocs in their exploration of the issues involved.  The University will negotiate in good faith if a union is elected as the exclusive bargaining representative for either or both groups.