LMU Invokes Religious Exemption, Won't Recognize Faculty Union

Some faculty members at Loyola Marymount University are condemning the school’s decision to invoke its religious exemption and not recognize a union they formed last year.

Non-tenure track faculty members at the Catholic school located just north of LAX overwhelmingly voted to certify with Service Employees International Union Local 721 in summer 2024.

On Friday, however, Chairman of the LMU Board of Trustees Paul Viviano sent an email to LMU employees and students announcing that the university would stop recognizing the NTT faculty members’ union and invoke its “constitutionally protected religious exemption” from the jurisdiction of the National Labor Relations Board, which governs collective bargaining for private employers.

“The religious exemption protects our distinctive Catholic