Loyola Marymount Faculty Rally to Demand Union Rights

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On Tuesday December 9, 2025, hundreds of Loyola Marymount University non-tenured faculty and their supporters rallied to demand that the university resume collective bargaining with their chosen union, SEIU Local 721. 

For more than a century, Catholic Social Teaching has expressly held that workers have the right to organize in unions and bargain collectively. That’s just what the non-tenure track faculty at LMU did this year, voting for representation by SEIU Local 721. But in September, the University abruptly ended negotiations and announced that it would no longer recognize or bargain with the union. Moreover, in order to avoid facing an Unfair Labor Practice charge before the National Labor Relations Board, the university had the audacity to cite its religious identity, claiming that under the First Amendment it was exempt from NLRB jurisdiction! 

In October, the Catholic Labor Network directed letters to LMU President, Board of Trustees and Los Angeles Archbishop Jose Gomez expressing our concern about the situation. Referencing the Bishops’ 1986 Pastoral letter Economic Justice for All, which affirmed that employees of Catholic institutions enjoy the right to organize in unions, we asked the University to resume bargaining with the union chosen by the faculty, and encouraged the Archbishop to investigate the university’s apparent violation of Church teaching. Though a few members of the Board of Trustees did respond to our letters, the Catholic Labor Network has not, to date, received a response from either the university or Archbishop Gomez.

Petition: Stand with LMU Faculty for Faith and Justice

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Faithful Catholics and allies stand with the non-tenure track faculty at Loyola Marymount University.

On September 12, 2025, LMU’s Board of Trustees announced that it would no longer recognize the faculty union representing its non-tenure track professors—invoking a “religious exemption” to end collective bargaining. This decision directly contradicts Catholic Social Doctrine, which affirms that the right to organize comes from God, not the NLRB.

The Church has been clear—from Rerum Novarum to Economic Justice for All:

“All church institutions must fully recognize the rights of employees to organize and bargain collectively with the institution through whatever association or organization they freely choose.”

Last week, LMU’s faculty voted by 90% to authorize a strike if the administration refuses to return to the bargaining table. They hope it doesn’t come to that—but they are prepared to act with courage and conscience to defend their rights and their students’ future.

As members and friends of the Catholic Labor Network, we call on Loyola Marymount University’s leadership to honor its Catholic identity by resuming negotiations and recognizing the union chosen by its faculty.

We stand in solidarity with LMU’s faculty, with SEIU, and with all workers striving to exercise their God-given right to organize for the common good.

We urge LMU’s President, Board of Trustees, and Jesuit leaders to return to the bargaining table in good faith—so that justice, dialogue, and Catholic identity may prevail.

✍️ Add your name in solidarity.

Photo credit: SEIU 721