Jacobin Radio Jacobin Radio: Organizing Outside the Tenure Track
10 snips
Apr 22, 2026 Janice Yue, a clinical occupational therapist and organizer; Sanjay Madhav, an engineering professor and former games-industry developer; and Kate Levin, a writing professor and prison-education co-director. They discuss a faculty union drive at USC, the rise of non-tenure precarity, USC’s legal attack on labor rights, and how organizing across disciplines could reshape academic labor nationwide.
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
Non-Tenure Faculty Power And Precarity
- Non-tenure-track faculty do the majority of teaching, clinical work, and much research at USC but lack job security and academic freedom protections.
- At USC about 75% of faculty are non-tenure, often on 1–3 year contracts facing non-renewal, class assignment cuts, and unilateral benefit changes.
USC Adopted A National Antiunion Playbook
- USC responded to the union petition by arguing the NLRB is unconstitutional, echoing tactics used by SpaceX and Amazon.
- Organizers view this as a legal tactic of desperation rather than necessity, aimed at blocking faculty organizing nationwide.
Personal Salary Inequity Sparked Organizing
- Janice joined through community connections and became active after discovering 10% salary gaps for people she trained.
- That personal inequity and repeated unilateral takeaways by USC made organizing feel necessary and immediate.