Posts tagged Loyola Marymount University
LMU faculty union calls strike vote after university says it has ‘religious exemption’ from organized labor
September 29, 2025 // Untenured faculty at Loyola Marymount University launched an unfair labor practice strike authorization vote this week following the school’s announcement that it will no longer recognize or bargain with the faculty union for a first contract. The union had been negotiating for a contract with LMU’s administration for about 10 months. Then, in mid-September, campus leaders announced that LMU is invoking a religious exemption from the National Labor Relations Board’s jurisdiction. The board oversees unionization efforts and protects the rights of private sector employees
Loyola Marymount abruptly rescinds recognition of faculty union, claiming religious exemption
September 21, 2025 // A 1979 Supreme Court decision regarding the Catholic Bishop of Chicago ruled that the NLRB should not seek to regulate religious institutions, arguing that problems with religious freedom protections enshrined in the 1st Amendment can arise when a government office tries to determine if certain activities are religious or not. In the decades since, rulings by federal courts and the NLRB have focused on creating a standard to deem whether a school is a religious institution, and whether the labor board can assert itself when it comes to employees who are not involved with its religious mission. Recent rulings have further curtailed the NLRB’s reach.