While the debate continues among the full-time, non-tenure track faculty about whether or not to unionize, Sen. Elizabeth Warren sent a letter to President Joseph E. Aoun on Dec. 20 in support of the faculty’s right to vote on unionization.

In a petition submitted to the National Labor Relations Board on Nov. 5, members of the full-time, non-tenure track faculty stated that they wanted to vote on whether or not to form a union. The university responded, saying the faculty are managers and not allowed to hold an election.

The faculty withdrew the petition, but are still advocating for the election. After the Service Employees International Union, or SEIU, reached out to Warren and explained the predicament, Warren sent a letter to Aoun urging the university to reconsider.

“The right of all workers to join a union, if they choose, is essential to ensuring that they have a place at the negotiating table and meaningful opportunity to improve their pay and working conditions,” she wrote in the public letter. “While members of the Northeastern community may disagree about whether these faculty members would be best served by unionizing, these workers alone should have the right to decide this question for themselves.”

While some full-time, non-tenure track faculty oppose unionizing, others say they should still be able to vote on the issue.

“If we have a vote and the vote is ‘no,’ I accept that, that’s the democratic process,” said Polly Attwood, a professor in the College of Professional Studies. “But if they deny the vote, we don’t get to have our democratic process.”

In an email sent on Jan. 8 from Senior Vice Provost for Academic Affairs Debra Franko, Franko said that unionizing would hurt the progress made under the university’s One Faculty model, an initiative aimed to ensure all full-time faculty are involved in university governance.

“This initiative has brought all faculty together and given everyone a stake in the university’s success,” Franko wrote in the email. “Whether you serve on a college committee, plan to represent your colleagues in the Faculty Senate or participate in college-wide votes, full-time faculty have partnered together to effect meaningful change.”

The email also said that a union could sacrifice the faculty’s direct voice to the university.

“Instead of shaping your path together with your colleagues through involvement in college governance and the Faculty Senate, union representation would supplant your independent voice,” Franko wrote in the email. “Your employment terms, and those of faculty across other departments and colleges, would be subject to union negotiations where the union bargaining team decides what to prioritize.”

The full-time, non-tenure track faculty plan to resubmit their petition in hopes to hold an election on the issue. SEIU staff and Northeastern faculty members held a demonstration in Centennial Common Feb. 6 as another push for support.

“At the end of the day, whether people want a union or not, is up to the people,” said Peter MacKinnon, president of SEIU Local 509. “We just want that voice to be heard.”

Students and faculty chanted, “Let us vote” during the demonstration, and Northeastern faculty and SEIU officials gave speeches.

“Right now we’re just at a standstill,” said Somy Kim, a professor in the Department of English. “Now it’s just public pressure.”

The protest, along with Warren’s letter, aimed to show the support behind the union’s hopes to hold an election.

“Senator Warren believes we should have that process,” Attwood said. “The wider public community is watching Northeastern.”