Organizers: NMSU faculty, staff taking last steps to get union recognition
EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — Faculty across the New Mexico State University System is seeking union representation and was scheduled to deliver union authorization cards to the Public Employee Labor Relations Board in Albuquerque on Friday, March 8, according to a news release sent out by union organizers.
“Hundreds of faculty representing the three NMSU Community Colleges: Grants, Alamogordo and DACC campuses, along with each of the colleges on NMSU’s Las Cruces campus, have signed cards to create” their own local branch of the National Education Association, which has over 3 million members nationwide, according to the news release.
This effort has been four years in the making, according to organizers.
According to union organizers, under New Mexico law, once more than 50 percent of the employees in a defined representation unit have submitted union authorization cards, union recognition is automatic.
“While the upper administration at NMSU is often in flux, faculty in the NMSU system demonstrate their commitment to the mission of the university by working there for decades,” said Jamie Bronstein, a member of the organizing committee who has taught history at NMSU since 1996. “If we really want to build a robust university system, we must strengthen the collective voice of the faculty who support student success. Our working conditions are their learning conditions.”
Union organizers at NMSU say that as the upper administration has changed over regularly in recent years, “drastic changes have been made to community college administrative and reporting structures without input from the faculty, staff or students from those campuses.”
“Unionizing will help ensure that faculty at the community colleges have a voice in how we restructure with consideration for how each restructuring option may impact students, faculty, and staff at our various colleges,” said Tanya Allred, an English professor at NMSU-Alamogordo since 2006.
NMSU sent the following statement about the faculty unionization effort:
“NMSU recognizes the critical importance of our faculty and the roles they serve across our university system. We look forward to continuing discussions on how the university as a whole can advance our land-grant mission of providing education, research and outreach to our region. We are hopeful that all of those engaged will work together to achieve positive results for our students and propel us forward in the coming years.”
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