february 6, 2026
newsletter overview
Know Your Contract: Union Dues
Course Cancellation Data Collecting
Paid Family Leave Campaign
Upcoming Events and Important Dates
know your contract:
Union Dues
Q: Why does the union charge dues?
A: The union charges dues to fund the necessary resources for representing workers, negotiating contracts, and enforcing workplace rights, essentially operating as a self-funded organization. These dues cover costs for bargaining, legal representation, organizing, and administrative functions, which collectively help members secure higher wages, better benefits, and improved job security.
Q: Why is paying union dues a condition of employment?
A: Paying union dues is often a condition of employment in NYC because
New York is not a "right-to-work" state, allowing unions to negotiate contracts requiring all employees in a bargaining unit to pay for representation. This "union security" arrangement ensures all workers who benefit from union-negotiated contracts, salaries, and protections contribute to the costs of those services, preventing "free riders".
Q: How much are union dues?
A: Dues are 1.44 percent of your gross pay, which works out to be approximately $14 per $1,000 that you earn. There is also a one-time $50 initiation fee. This is one of the lowest dues collection amounts of all unions. Dues are only collected when you are working. Additionally, annual raises won in every contract since 2002 have outpaced the individual dues rate.
Course cancellations for
Insufficiency of Registration (IOR)
Since 2022, IOR cancellations have increased: roughly 1 in 20 adjunct-taught courses in Fall/Spring, and 1 in 9 in Summer. NYU cites managerial rights, but the pattern raises serious questions especially given budget incentives (IOR can be cheaper than Courseload Reduction Pay) and stark differences in how departments handle cancellations.
Ask: Can you serve as a department point person (steward/organizer) this semester? You’ll help colleagues route questions to reps, share clear guidance when cancellations happen, and help us spot patterns early. We’ll support you.
Fill out this short form if you’re open to learning more or know you’d like to help out.
Divisions of programs in business(dpb)
The Division of Programs in Business (DPB) in the School of Professional Studies was among the hardest hit by spring course cancellations, with concurrent curricular shifts further reducing the adjunct headcount. Most concerning is the DPB’s simultaneous push to hire a record number of full-time contract faculty. This transition suggests a long-term strategy to phase out adjunct positions, even as the university continues to grow despite its rhetoric regarding a budget shortfall
PAID FAMILY LEAVE:
call for testimonials!
In the fall, our union launched our paid family leave campaign. NYU indicated it would respond to our demands on a set timeline and has now missed that timeline.
We deserve a clear answer, and we deserve paid family leave.
One of our most powerful tools we have right now is written and visual testimonials from adjunct faculty.
Ask:
Share a short testimonial (video or written)
Your testimonial will be posted on our union website and social media
For more than a year, our siblings in Contract Faculty United (CFU-UAW)—the union of full-time continuing contract faculty at NYU—have been trying to bargain their first contract with university management. Next week, CFU will hold a strike authorization vote. If a two-thirds majority of CFU members vote in the affirmative, then CFU's bargaining committee will be authorized to call a strike in order to expedite an agreement with management.
NYU Adjunct Faculty in ACT-UAW Local 7902 stand unwaveringly in solidarity with CFU. While our contract does not allow us to go on strike if they do, it is vital that, as workers and as fellow NYU faculty, we stand together.
If there is a strike, here are basic things that all of us can do to support CFU:
If there is a strike, do not cross picket lines. While adjunct faculty would not be going on strike in the event that contract faculty do, we can show solidarity by not crossing picket lines. (Further guidance will be provided in the event of a CFU strike.)
If there is a strike, do not scab. “Scabbing” is the practice of replacing workers who are out on strike, undercutting the striking workers’ leverage. In the event that management seeks to replace striking contract faculty temporarily with adjunct faculty, Local 7902 members are solemnly and strongly urged not to scab. There is nothing more damaging that we can do to our fellow workers than scabbing. If you are contacted with a request to cover struck work, you have the right to decline and can do so simply and politely (“I’m not available to do that work”).
Workers’ labor is our leverage. Withholding labor—going on strike—is the single most effective means that workers have of winning strong contracts. We were able to win the strong contract that we currently have because 95% of our members voted to authorize a strike. Now we stand with CFU members in their fight for a contract that ensures that their members have the pay, benefits, rights, and protections that they need and deserve.
friday
feb. 20
Union Town Hall – The Question of Raising Member Dues, 3-4:30pm
At the December 2025 membership meeting members of the Executive Board shared that the Joint Council is considering a referendum vote to raise dues. Now we’re holding a town hall for each unit to learn more and to share views.
Come and learn more about how membership dues are currently spent and why elected union officers are considering raising dues. Time will be reserved to ask questions and share your thoughts on the proposed referendum.
Please join us for this important discussion about your dues and the future of our union.
friday
feb. 27
The next meeting of the Joint Council will be Friday, February 27 @ 12:30pm EST. Joint Council Meetings are open for Rank and File members (i.e. not on the Joint Council) to observe! Rank and File members need only to register to receive an observer link to the meeting.
As always, we encourage member attendance to observe so they know what’s going on with their union! Please register in advance (registration link forthcoming) so we can confirm your membership and send you the Zoom link.
Joint Council Meeting
12:30 pm