ACT-UAW Local 7902
the union for NYU adjuncts and New School part-time faculty,
student workers, and health service employees

Full-Time Staff Organizer
(2 positions)

Based in New York City, NY

 

ACT-UAW Local 7902 (“Academics Come Together”) is the union of roughly 10,000 academic workers in New York City. Founded at NYU in 2002, our union is at the forefront of organizing contingent instructors in higher education. Our union is committed to supporting the unionization of all higher-ed workers, and over the past several years, all of our units have negotiated landmark first or successor contracts and mobilized members to enforce the rights and benefits of these new agreements. 

Our shops include: Contract Faculty United at NYU (CFU), Adjunct Faculty at NYU, graduate student workers at NYU (GSOC), undergraduate resident assistants at NYU (SWAN), Part Time Faculty at The New School, academic student workers at The New School (SENS), and student health services employees at The New School (SHENS). Our Local continues to grow as workers across New York City seek the strength and protection of unions. 

We are seeking two Full-Time Staff Organizers to help our Union’s leaders organize with their colleagues to win improvements to wages, working conditions, job security, and shared governance. These positions will be covered by the Collective Bargaining Agreement Between UAW Staff United and UAW Local 7902.

Job Description
The ideal candidate is able to take initiative and: 

• Execute organizing strategies to win issue-driven campaigns
• Grow strong member engagement
• Understand and enforce collective bargaining agreements
• Train and empower member organizers to run their own union

As an organizer, you will educate members about the benefits and protections in their current contract and speak to members about issues that may emerge in their workplace. You will work with member organizers and elected leadership to advance campaigns around winning members’ demands while cultivating new leadership within the union. A strong candidate should have experience building unit-level strength by working with new and established member organizers, including Stewards and Unit Representatives.

Staff organizers will:

• Spend time each week in the field:
  • Conducting 1-on-1 conversations to engage members around workplace issues and work toward unanimous Union membership and support for our campaigns 
  • Conducting turf walkthroughs to facilitate workplace mapping and train member-leaders on effective mapping strategy and walkthrough strategies 
• Identify and develop member-leaders within the union with a focus on maintaining the member-led character of our Local by:
  • Training member-leaders to conduct member-to-member conversations and walkthroughs in order to further Unit-wide campaigns in their own departments/turfs
  • Facilitating a shared understanding of the purpose and goals of member-leaders within and across Units
  • Facilitating a shared understanding of long-term coordinated organizing/enforcement/bargaining strategy by working with Unit Representatives, Organizing Committee members, stewards, and member-leaders, and by integrating information shared in unit-level meetings (unit rep meetings, OC meetings, steward meetings) and one-on-one conversations
• Plan and lead regular trainings and workshops for member organizers, focused on:
  • Member engagement 
    • Unit-wide organizing campaigns like membership drives and issue-specific campaigns 
    • Identifying, recruiting, and working with department leaders 
    • Winning pressure campaigns that secure widely and deeply felt core demands
    • How to coordinate mobilizations, including event planning, logistics, materials, and turnout.
  • Contract enforcement
    • Grievance and arbitration strategy and public pressure campaigns 
    • Turning workplace issues into organizing opportunities, recruiting grievants as member-leaders and creating clearly defined campaigns for member mobilization 
    • Equipping Unit Representatives to continuously train members on their own contract and the grievance and arbitration procedure 
    • Assist with communicating major benefits and protections of existing contracts
  • Bargaining
    • Member-led contract campaigns 
    • Supermajority participation in Bargaining Surveys 
    • Supermajority ratification of Initial Bargaining Demands 
    • Article research and drafting 
    • Bargaining and negotiation strategy 
    • Turning developments at the bargaining table into clearly defined and time-bound campaigns for member mobilization
• Use the Local 7902 Data Portal:
  • Conduct weekly data updates to keep membership interaction records (especially as regards organizing) up to date 
  • Train member-leaders to use the Local 7902 Data Portal for unit-specific needs, including:
    • Membership record updates
    • Utilizing membership lists for organizing and enforcement needs 
  • Assist with updating member lists
• Help integrate new organizing campaigns into the structure of our Local, including:
  • Assisting new shop Organizing Committees with turf mapping, department leadership recruitment, one-on-one conversations, and issue troubleshooting

Candidate Eligibility Requirements 

• UAW Member in good standing for at least 1 year
• Dedication and enthusiasm for the labor movement and social justice
• Understanding of higher education unionism and the challenges facing academic workers at NYU and The New School 
• Ability to work with a diverse workforce and learn distinct unit culture(s)
• Willingness to comply with health & safety guidelines for in-person meetings
• Comfortable communicating on various platforms (Zoom, Email, Text, Whatsapp, Signal, Slack, Discord) as well as in person and over the phone
• Strong verbal and written communication skills
• Strong organizational skills and ability to prioritize and manage multiple tasks
• Fluency with Google Drive and Excel
• Knowledge of common office and cloud-based softwares (G Suite, Zoom, Canva)
• Evening work and irregular hours will sometimes be required

Preferred Qualifications

• Minimum 2 years experience in labor organizing, preferably with shop floor organizing experience
• Experience identifying contract violations and working with union members to devise winning grievance strategies 
• Experience serving on a Bargaining Committee 
• Experience negotiating and fighting for standard-setting contract victories during new or successor contract campaigns 
• Experience with academic employment and/or higher ed organizing

Estimated** Compensation 
**Salaries are subject to currently ongoing negotiations per the salary reopener pursuant to the collective bargaining agreement in place between UAW Staff United and UAW Local 7902.

Step 1 (0-1 years of experience): $84,000
Step 2 (1-2 years of experience): $86,000
Step 3 (2-3 years of experience): $88,000
Step 4 (3-4 years of experience): $91,000
Step 5 (4+ years of experience): $95,000

Employees shall also receive a 4% cost of living increase annually.

Salary steps are earned according to: 

• Demonstrable years of organizing experience as a rank and file member or Executive Officer and/or
• Years worked as a paid staff organizer for a union 

In addition to salary, employee compensation packages include: healthcare insurance coverage, vacation and personal days, professional development funds, retirement contributions, and all the rights and benefits enshrined by the Collective Bargaining Agreement Between UAW Staff United and UAW Local 7902.

Qualifications 
Given that Local 7902 remains committed to a supermajority-based organizing approach, in order to be considered, applicants must be able to demonstrate experience: 

• In the labor movement as a member, leader, organizer, or other relevant role 
• Engaging unit majorities to act as a cohesive whole
• Establishing core demands
• Winning demands through pressure campaigns

The strongest applicants will also have deep and demonstrable experience with:

• Contract campaigns
• Bargaining and negotiations 
• Contract enforcement, including grievance procedure and arbitration 

Timeline and Application
Local 7902 shall make every effort to conduct and conclude the applicant search and hiring process by the end of July so that successful hires can begin work starting in August. 

Women and people of color are strongly encouraged to apply.

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.

To Apply: 
Interested applicants should submit a résumé/CV and 1-page cover letter to mail@actuaw.org. In your cover letter, please clearly indicate that you have been a member in good standing with the UAW for at least 1 year, and state which Local/unit/campaign earned you such membership. 

Deadline to apply: Friday, July 17