SEIU is the abbreviation for the Service Employees International Union. The Service Employees International Union is a large labor union that has about two million members and operates in all 50 states.

Local 73 is a part of the SEIU. Based in Chicago, Local 73 represents more than 28,000 workers, primarily in public service and publicly funded positions in school districts, municipalities, social service agencies, and many other job classifications.

As far as we know, SEIU Local 73 has never achieved a collective bargaining agreement on behalf of faculty members at any college or university. Other local SEIU offices have organized on behalf of faculty members elsewhere in the country.

In August 2016, the Washington, D.C.-based SEIU removed the top leaders of SEIU Local 73 and imposed an emergency trusteeship because of a "crisis of governance and collapse of leadership" that put “members' interests at risk,” according to the SEIU press release. You can read local media coverage here and here. In addition, Local 73’s chief negotiator was summarily fired in July 2017 and was replaced by a negotiator from SEIU’s national headquarters.

Yes. The SEIU is the exclusive representative of all faculty in the bargaining unit, including those who voted against the Union or simply decided not to vote in the election. In addition, most union contracts contain a payment provision (typically called the “union security clause”) requiring that employees either join the union and pay dues, or, if the employee chooses not to join the union, to pay an “agency fee” or “fair share fee” which is generally equivalent to dues. In short, faculty who are part of the bargaining unit can decide not to join the Union or pay dues, but cannot opt out of being represented by the Union and may be required to pay an agency fee to the Union. Typically agency fees are nearly the same as dues.

Your legal rights to negotiate terms and conditions of your employment have been transferred to the Union. Loyola may not extend different terms to you or any members of the bargaining unit regardless of need or merit, except as agreed to by the Union. It is extremely unlikely the Union would take on individual faculty member’s unique needs and preferences during negotiations. What may be important to full-time, non-tenure-track faculty and part-time faculty may not be as important to the negotiation committee or consistent with SEIU’s national agenda.  

If the Union negotiates a typical union security clause, all faculty in the bargaining unit who do not want to be a Local 73 member likely would still be required to pay agency fees to the Union that are roughly equivalent to the cost of membership dues. Although non-members are paying money to the Union, they do not have the right to vote on Union matters, hold Union office, or attend Union meetings.

Yes. The Union can charge dues, initiation fees, fines, and assessments. It is free to set dues as it sees fit, and the University has no say in the matter.

Yes. If you were an eligible voter, you are part of the bargaining unit, even if you voted “No.” If the Union negotiates a union security clause, and almost every labor contract has one, you would be required to pay dues or an “agency fee,” which is typically equivalent to membership dues, as a condition of employment.

SEIU Local 73 sets the amount of dues, and Loyola has no say in the matter. The Union also has the legal right to increase dues as it sees fit. Unlike salaries and benefits, dues are not negotiated between the Union and the employer. In addition, while the Union determines how much you will pay, whether or not that money is automatically deducted from your paycheck, and other details, would be part of a contract negotiation.

The Union has the right to ask members of the collective bargaining unit to begin paying dues immediately after the election is certified and the Union is the exclusive bargaining representative. However, a union can, and often does, wait until a collective bargaining agreement is ratified before it begins to collect dues.

That is up to the Union. Some unions waive initiation fees for current employees, but require all future hires to pay initiation fees when hired. Initiation fees are completely up to the Union, and the University has no say in the matter.

That is up to the Union. According to its most recent financial statement, in 2016, Local 73 took in $16,773,964.

Among its expenditures in 2016, Local 73 spent:

• $496,027 on political activities and lobbying
• $5,018,405 in “per capita tax” (that’s money collected by Local 73 but sent to the SEIU in Washington, DC)
• $126,569 in contributions, grants, and gifts
• $1,602,869 in general overhead

If you would like to see the details of how Local 73 spends the money it collects from the workers it represents, you can review the Union’s most recent financial report here.

Yes. First, according to the ‌SEIU Constitution (see page 45), members must pledge as follows:

I, (name) ___________________, pledge upon my honor that I will faithfully observe the Constitution and Bylaws of this Union and of the Service Employees International Union.

I agree to educate myself and other members in the history of the labor movement and to defend to the best of my ability the principles of trade unionism, and I will not knowingly wrong a member or see a member wronged if it is in my power to prevent it.

As an SEIU member, I will take responsibility for helping to achieve the Union’s vision for a just society where all workers are valued and people respected, where all families and communities thrive, and where we leave a better and more equal world for generations to come.

Further, members are subject to discipline for violating the rules set forth in the SEIU Constitution and ByLaws (found on pages 32-33). For example, members may have charges filed against them by the SEIU and may be required to stand trial for:

• Violating any provisions of the Constitution or laws of the International Union or Local bylaws;
• Gross disloyalty or conduct unbecoming a member;
• Engaging in corrupt or unethical practices or racketeering;
• Aiding a rival union;
• Deliberately engaging in conduct in violation of the responsibility of members toward the Union as an institution; and
• Working as a strikebreaker.

At present, the College of Arts and Sciences program directors have the direct responsibility of assigning qualified faculty members to the courses that are taught each semester. There are many long-standing relationships with part-time faculty that could be changed due to Union representation. With a union, all terms and conditions of employment, including the manner in which faculty members are assigned to courses, are subject to discussion at the negotiating table. Loyola and the Union are bargaining in good faith over the terms and conditions of employment and all of the negotiated terms could remain the same, change, be increased, be reduced, or be eliminated. The ability of program directors to select faculty could be reduced or compromised.