ABOUT US
We are an organization by, for, and of NYFA Los Angeles faculty and staff who want to unionize to improve our teaching and employment experience here at NYFA Los Angeles. Our work not only benefits the university and the California economy, but has lasting deep impacts on our students. We work in many different fields and have varied experiences, but our dedication to education and supporting students unites us all.
I love the passion and eagerness to create that the students bring to NYFA. I love the commitment and expertise the Staff and Faculty provide to the students and each other. The leadership at NYFA LA seems to be unwilling or unable to work in direct collaboration with the Faculty and Staff to craft strategic vision and effective policy. Upper administration consistently ignores quality input from the folks who serve and educate the students. They need to work productively with the folks who are in the classrooms, equipment rooms, and on set with our students every day. The Faculty Senate and committees within our own school reliably advocate for policies that would improve our working lives. However, they are advisory and can only make recommendations, which NYFA is free to ignore. We have experienced stagnant salaries, increasing workloads, vanishing benefits, threats to job security, and a lack of transparency in administrative policies. If our benefits and working conditions are secured in a collective bargaining agreement, NYFA cannot change the terms of our employment without our consent. This is why I believe we must unionize to improve our working conditions.
What I love most about working at NYFA is the opportunity to help young artists develop into the industry leaders they will become. Everyone deserves to be valued and respected for the expertise they bring to their work. The need for basic fairness in working conditions and compensation shouldn’t be something we have to fight for. Faculty and staff regularly meet constantly shifting expectations with professionalism. Many of us have had to take on a second job just to offset inflation. This is not an indicator of how adaptable we are or how hard working we all are. It is an indicator of mismanagement. It’s time to be fairly compensated for our expertise, our adaptability, our willingness to make do, and our devotion to our students. It’s time for our working conditions to be reasonable and our contributions to be valued and respected. I believe that, by coming together to form a union, NYFA will become the most desirable school in the country for students looking to learn their craft and start their careers in our industry.
I came to NYFA in 2014 as an adjunct faculty member because I wanted to give back through teaching. It is because of my long affiliation with my other unions that I am able to continue teaching at NYFA. If I had to rely on my NYFA salary to live, I’d have left long ago. It is time to unionize. It is time for all of us to understand and realize our value. It is time to understand that maintaining the status quo is no longer an option. It is time to move forward together. Forming a union would benefit EVERYONE– students, faculty, staff, and school.
I’ve taught at NYFA for 12 years. I served as President of the Faculty Senate and have worked on several committees. For years we have asked the Administration for changes. And for years, those changes have not appeared. We need to use our combined voices to demand better working conditions. Many of these changes don’t even need to be financial. Classes getting canceled on short notice, lack of titles and promotions, more transparent policies for hiring and firing are a few examples. More flexibility with class scheduling would also be great. On the financial side, I’d like to see regular cost of living adjustments, a recommitment to the 401K match plan, and a working HR department. I believe that together, we can achieve all this and more!
I love working with the next generation of filmmakers. Their enthusiasm and eagerness keeps me young forever! As a member of SAG-AFTRA, I know firsthand that this industry thrives because of unions. Members have seen how collective bargaining gives artists the ability to secure fair wages, protections, and job security. Yet here at NYFA, the title of ‘Instructor’ doesn’t reflect the industry standards we follow elsewhere. Our pay and titles don’t match the professionalism we bring. Without a union, faculty and staff are left trying to advocate for ourselves in a system that doesn’t offer much room for negotiation. Just like the unions that built this industry, it’s time for us to organize and secure the respect, stability, and fair compensation we deserve.
I currently work 3 jobs in order to get by. I am a professional screenwriter, I teach, and I work a service industry job to supplement my salary. Out of my 3 jobs, I get paid the least at NYFA. I have no job stability or security. I feel that by forming a union, faculty and staff could help increase pay and give us a say in our future.
After returning from pandemic lockdowns, the students created imagery of TA’s as heroes while management continued to pay us minimum wage. Whenever the school wants couches and office furniture moved between buildings, they assign shifts to skilled film workers instead of hiring movers. At the most recent graduation ceremony, my crew loaded into a downtown building on a blazing hot day. I discovered the air conditioning was out and our work area was rife with loose sawdust. Faculty and staff need collective bargaining, not just to get us fair compensation for special conditions, but for our fundamental physical safety!
I deeply value our students. I was originally scheduled to teach three classes, but as the semester approached, I was assigned only one class, which combined students from THREE different programs. This resulted in a significant loss of income for me and my family. By forming a union, we can secure fair compensation, job stability, and better treatment for instructors who are deeply committed to educating the next generation.
I love the community of NYFA Los Angeles. Creating a union to represent the faculty and staff is an important positive step in fostering a caring environment through which we can have equity for all with proper representation and the fair allocation of resources. The experience I’ve had teaching at other higher education campuses with strong union traditions proves that employment concerns can be addressed collectively, and with transparency.
Community members at NYFA have an eagerness for learning and growing that constantly inspires me. However, the desire of the faculty and staff to improve and grow our storied institution is hindered by the powerlessness of our singular voices. I have heard countless brilliant ideas, discussions, debates, and decisions from my fellow workers that could have positive effects for our school. However, these words often end as just that, with very few ways to guarantee that our voices are heard. By forming a union, faculty and staff would give the community a voice: one with power, one that must be heard. The community of NYFA is what makes it beautiful and strong, and to empower that community will only make it better.
I love teaching the next generation of filmmakers and content creators. I also love my colleagues: the faculty and staff that have become my second family. I feel that every day I am on campus, I am enriched as a teacher and as a human being. As a 31-year member of the Director’s Guild of America, I have seen how a union can not only protect and strengthen workers, but also become partners with employers to foster a better overall working relationship. Too often, we have felt like the Administration has not considered how new policies will affect the faculty and staff. We realize the Pandemic changed a lot of the dynamics, but we are still feeling left out. By unionizing, we can really become partners and help the school continue to grow.
No matter what our role is, faculty and staff are all an integral part of an institution dedicated to educating students. No where else are you able to encounter young artists from different parts of the world on a regular basis. When pay increases and 401k contributions of employees are used as cost-saving measures, it’s hard to feel that the NYFA administration supports us. Ultimately, the students are the ones who suffer when their teachers, TAs, and support staff are not compensated fairly. I support forming a union so faculty and staff can feel valued and continue providing quality education to our students.
Some things I love about working at NYFA are the people, our commitment to diversity, the creativity, talent and ambition of our students, faculty and staff. As faculty and staff, we contribute day in and day out to the community that is our school, and we want to make sure that our voices are heard. We all want NYFA to be the best it can be. Forming a union will ensure faculty and staff are supported while still carrying out the mission of the school.
What I treasure about this job are the staff, the faculty, and the students. However, morale has been low for the past several years. I was denied a raise after meeting the requirements for my first increase – due to “budgeting issues” from HR. This was pre-pandemic when we were at peak enrollment. No further answer was given. As a part-time, paid-per-class instructor, I’m not allocated enough hours to prep and grade during the week. I find it unprofessional to have to input my hours manually when the semester contract is already signed and written. This system banks on employees underrepresenting their hours, and if a mistake is made, faculty is punished and forced to complete mandatory online modules at no pay. Trying to use sick days is absolutely confusing and the revolving door of HR rarely has answers. We are awarded no paid holidays from our institution despite pretending that we observe them. This is unlike any institution I’ve worked for. Lastly, the school has drastically cut assistance to help us teach our classes: they’ve reduced parking, equipment, and even the coffee cups in the teacher’s lounge – of all things. If we do not unionize now, we will lose any chance of bargaining for basic wages and rights.
What keeps me at NYFA is the kind and hardworking faculty and staff who truly bring passion and love into the workplace. If it wasn’t for their continued support, I would have become completely disillusioned with NYFA early on. I remember when the word came down that all faculty and staff would have wage increases delayed and everyone’s 401k policy would be cut, which many relied on. This major news sent shockwaves to many NYFA employees and morale plummeted to a continual low, without any direct intervention from Upper Management. Many amazing people left and other important roles were left unfilled, while even more people were shackled with additional responsibilities to make up for the loss of manpower. If there were more support for the faculty and staff, as well as a basic living wage, I truly think NYFA would improve for the better.
New York Film Academy and I have been in each other’s lives for close to twenty years. It’s been a pleasure to watch – and have a small part in – the school’s maturation into an institution of higher learning. Our faculty and staff have repeatedly proven their aptitude and dedication to the NYFA community. Unionizing would be an ideal next step in New York Film Academy’s development, putting us shoulder to shoulder with other art schools and universities. It will also demonstrate the school’s dedication to its talented, dedicated staff and faculty.
I find great purpose in my work as an educator, helping burgeoning artists find their voice and hone processes that will serve as a meaningful foundation to a lifetime of creativity. NYFA treats staff and faculty as disposable, and creates an environment wherein employees do not feel they are able to voice valid concerns for fear of losing their job. Pay parity, cost of living increases, and pay raises are non-existent. The employees of this school are the reason our students have a valuable educational experience, and yet the compensation is paltry. As a non-salaried instructor, I am paid hourly for class time and given approximately one hour a week at a greatly reduced rate for prep and grading. This forces me to spend scores of unpaid hours preparing course lectures, updating curriculum and grading. We must unionize in order to gain fair compensation, sensible job responsibilities, and a role as stakeholders in the future of our school.
The best part of working at NYFA is the people. As a former student, I was taught and supported by amazing teachers, and now it’s a privilege to work alongside them. NYFA has always been my home away from home, and I genuinely care about its growth, just as it helped me grow as an artist and a person. A union would give us a collective voice to advocate for fair wages, job security, and transparent practices, helping us address these challenges together. By forming a union, we can stand up for our rights and create a supportive, equitable work environment for everyone.
I come from a union family. I am also in the WGA, so I have experienced first hand what workers can win by coming together through their union. For me it has meant good health insurance, pensions, protections against exploitation, protections against AI, the list goes on and on. Simply put, as the adage goes, together we are stronger. Alone we just have so much less leverage. I support a union at NYFA so faculty and staff can protect ourselves.
To maintain the high quality of education for our students, we need to ensure their faculty and staff have a livable wage, institutional support, and the dignity that aligns with their positions.
We are passionate professionals who dedicate a lot of time and expertise to NYFA. Currently, faculty and staff have no negotiation power and very little incentive to remain from a financial or benefits standpoint. Individually we are dispensable; collectively we are the backbone of the institution. I am asked to enter hours “worked” that are not reflective of my actual work time. When I try to discuss this, I am told to reference a spreadsheet where the amount of prep time I am ‘allowed’ is evenly distributed across the semester. Am I a fool for working more hours than allocated? Or just a passionate teacher who agrees to reduce my low rate in order to do the job? By forming a union, we can negotiate to ensure that all instructors are fairly compensated for the time they work.
Several students have told me that they chose to pursue a higher learning degree at NYFA after taking my introductory online screenwriting course. Meanwhile, I have to juggle multiple jobs to make ends meet while being full-time faculty. Gaining transparency in terms of compensation, class assignments semester-to-semester, and benefits would give us the ability to focus on teaching instead of stressing over if our next paycheck will cover rent. I am also passionate about protecting parental leave policies for the faculty and staff, as it took me many stressful months to negotiate my parental leave, as the Los Angeles campus did not have an HR representative at the time. In solidarity, I believe we can use our collective voice to advocate for faculty and staff and make NYFA better for all.
Working at NYFA, I love exploring great artworks of the past to inspire the artists of the future. What I don’t love is being subject to the boss’s whims. With a union, we’ll have a contract to protect us, and an organization to stand behind us. As the old labor movement saying goes, “United we bargain, divided we beg.”
Our students come from all over the world, and the job of teaching them is a great joy. The working conditions at NYFA are the learning conditions of our students. I strongly believe that the formation of a union, in collaboration with my colleagues, will improve both. We often hear from the voices at the top of the organization that the faculty and staff are valued, and yet, we have no cost of living raises, no retirement benefits, and no job security. I look forward to winning this union together, bargaining for a fair contract, and showing all students, staff, and faculty that they are valued at NYFA.
We need to unionize because there are so many unsung heroes among the staff and faculty who deserve greater appreciation for what they do, and a greater voice in creating their best work environment. A union will give us the ability to amplify our voices.
I love working with my students and being present in their growing practice. But I have lost classes at the last minute without any notification or compensation, resulting in stressful financial situations which impacted my family as well. On multiple occasions, I have received contracts after the semester has started with a lower rate without having been made aware of these changes ahead of time. This causes a lot of stress and has an impact on other responsibilities as well as my practice. I support forming a union so we can negotiate for pay security, scheduling security, and regular income increases – which would show respect for the work we do.
I want to form a union because I want the staff and faculty to be able to work together in order to obtain security and transparency. There is so much uncertainty at NYFA. Right now, people feel disempowered and at the mercy of the whims of the administration. Things are promised or given and then taken back. The lack of transparency is really confusing – for example, no one knows how pay scales are decided by HR. I also would really like to have healthcare. Financial insecurity and lack of healthcare have been very stressful for me. I support forming a union because I believe that we are stronger together.