On December 17, 2024, CalArts’ General Counsel and Chief of Staff, along with a notetaker, met with a UAW representative and three members of CalArts United (CU-UAW) to further discuss the pending election and potential legal challenges.
Following the groups’ last meeting on December 9, 2024, CalArts provided CU-UAW with a list of positions it intends to challenge as ineligible for union membership due to their supervisory roles (in most cases, NLRB regulations do not allow supervisors to be union members). CalArts hopes that the parties can reach agreement on some of these positions, therefore limiting the number of challenges.
CalArts reiterated its position that faculty and staff should be in separate bargaining units given the very different terms and conditions of their employment. CU-UAW asked if CalArts would be willing to reconsider this position if provided examples of a single unit comprising faculty and staff at other universities. CalArts responded that it is open to learning more about such a unit(s) and why that might be appropriate for CalArts, but that such broad units are rare, if they exist.
The parties also discussed a potential challenge based on the “Yeshiva standard.” This would challenge whether regular and technical faculty at CalArts should be considered supervisory per the 1980 Supreme Court ruling defining full-time faculty as managerial employees. The groups also discussed whether regular and technical faculty should appropriately be in the same bargaining unit as special faculty, given the differences in the terms of their employment. (This is rare among higher education institutions.)
CalArts reiterated its position that it shares CU-UAW’s desire for a collaborative process and an efficient, fair, and transparent election, while noting that if an appropriate challenge exists, as provided under federal labor law, it has an obligation to raise that challenge.
The groups again discussed the timing of an election, and CU-UAW maintained that its intent is to have an election in January when staff and faculty have returned from break. CalArts and CU-UAW hope to meet again the first week in January to discuss the supervisory list, the potential Yeshiva challenge, and other matters.
Reminder: CalArts is hosting several more information/Q&A sessions on unionization in January. You can find the schedule here.