LMU Support Letter for Community Groups and Unions

2026 January 19th

President Thomas Poon

LMU Board of Trustees

Loyola Marymount University

Office of the President

University Hall

1 LMU Drive

Los Angeles, CA 90045-2659

Dear President Poon and LMU Board of Trustees:

We are writing to urgently ask you to return to the bargaining table and negotiate a fair union contract with your non-tenure track (NTT) faculty and visiting assistant professor (VAP) union members.

As democratic socialists, we understand that unions are the most reliable vehicle for working people to have the ability to shape their working conditions and secure dignity in their workplace. Union busting is a clear rejection of the demand for dignity and workers’ agency in workplace conditions.

As members of the Los Angeles community, we will not stand still or remain quiet while your administration engages in undemocratic and unjust actions against your hard working teaching faculty. Union busting is not a value that will be tolerated in Los Angeles and we will not go away.  

When LMU NTT and VAP faculty members unionized with a fair and free election, you agreed to recognize the union. We understand that you never made counter offers to the union members’ first substantive economic proposals. Instead, you decided to invoke a religious exemption that isn’t compatible with Jesuit and Catholic teachings. The late Pope Francis stated: “There is no union without workers, and there are no free workers without a union.”

NTT and VAP faculty at LMU don’t have basic worker protections that a lot of people take for granted. A lot of NTT faculty don’t know if they are going to be rehired from semester to semester. Some semesters, they are offered a smaller number of classes, and thus they earn lower pay and lose health insurance. LMU NTT and VAP faculty are living with insecurity all the time, and it takes a toll.

LMU NTT and VAP faculty are also severely underpaid. A lot of them are struggling to pay rent and bills in the Los Angeles region — one of the most expensive areas in the country.

Please return to the bargaining table as soon as possible and negotiate a fair contract for these essential faculty at LMU.

Higher education is under attack nationwide. LMU needs to be a leader in social and economic justice, not leading the race to the bottom. It is time (and not too late) to Do The Right Thing!

Respectfully,

DSA-LA Steering Committee