NMSU System Faculty Petitions for Union Recognition

Under New Mexico law, once employees in a defined unit submit authorization cards signed by more than 50 percent of employees, union recognition is automatic. Hundreds of faculties 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 NMSU-NEA their own local branch of the National Education Association of New Mexico (NEA-NM) and the National Education Association (NEA) the nation’s largest union with over 3 million members.

“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,” she continued.

As upper administration continues to turn over regularly, drastic changes have been made to the 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.

The successful union drive comes amidst an uptick in union activity nationally. New Mexico State University will join 63 percent of university faculty statewide in becoming part of a union, ultimately increasing the proportion of unionized faculty to 85 percent.  Faculty throughout the NMSU system look forward to the recognition of their union, so that they may begin to collectively bargain a contract with the university. "A system-wide strong faculty union benefits all stakeholders within the NMSU system and beyond. We are excited that community college faculty will now have a direct representation" concluded Debasmita Roychowdhury, Professor of English at DACC since 2005.

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