Catholic University Won't Recognize Faculty Union, Citing 'Religious Exemption'

LOS ANGELES, CA — Some faculty members at Loyola Marymount University are condemning the school's decision to invoke its religious exemption and not recognize a union they formed last year.

Non-tenure track faculty members at the Catholic school located just north of LAX overwhelmingly voted to certify with Service Employees International Union Local 721 in summer 2024.

On Friday, however, Chairman of the LMU Board of Trustees Paul Viviano sent an email to LMU employees and students announcing that the university would stop recognizing the NTT faculty members' union and invoke its "constitutionally protected religious exemption" from the jurisdiction of the National Labor Relations Board, which governs collective bargaining for private employers.

"The religious exemption protects our distinctive Catholic mission and ensures an LMU education remains accessible to generations to come," LMU President Thomas Poon said an a video message sent out Friday. "This decision safeguards our autonomy to carry out our mission without a third party that may not share our values. The LMU board views the religious exemption as necessary to protect the university's ability to educate and to serve students. It does not affect our commitment to Titles XI, XII and IX, to civil rights protection, health care, or to our unwavering policies of nondiscrimination."

The move drew sharp criticism from the union.

"LMU NTT faculty are the union," history lecturer Lauren Cole said. "When President Poon characterizes the union as a `third party,' he implies that NTT faculty are outsiders. Stating that NTT faculty `may not share our values' suggests that we are not committed to our students and LMU's mission. Frankly, this is a disappointing and insulting characterization. The president is correct about one thing, however: NTT faculty do not value union busting and efforts to divide NTT faculty from our students, their families, staff, tenure- line faculty, and the larger LMU community."

SEIU 721 officials said they will file an Unfair Labor Practice charge over LMU's action.

Officials said the nearly 400 faculty members in the union serve in the Bellarmine College of Liberal Arts, the College of Communication and Fine Arts, and the School of Film and Television. They say they have faced low pay, short-term contracts, job insecurity and minimal opportunities to advance at the university.

City News Service