Myths and Facts
Myth: A union will divide our community.
So far, this work has brought us together, and we expect that to be true going forward. 75% have signed union cards. More than 100 tenured faculty and 900 students and alums have signed our letter outlining our reasons for unionizing. Building stronger connections and community (within the FIP population, with all Wellesley faculty, and with all Wellesley staff) is what this union is all about!
Myth: A union will threaten then tenure system
The union will ensure a more fairly compensated, stable career track for FIP faculty, the majority of whom have been working at the College for more than 10 years. When FIP faculty win better compensation and job security, the College will not be able to rely on underpaid labor to delay or deny requests for tenure-track hires.
Myth: A union will protect faculty who perform poorly
Lots of people make the same argument about tenure, but ultimately defend a system that protects a small minority of faculty who underperform to ensure the greater good of academic freedom for the vast majority. Yet the same cost-benefit analysis is not extended to FIP faculty. Collective bargaining carves out a middle ground - it offers protections while maintaining a mechanism for terminating faculty who do not do meet the expectations of their jobs. The union will not impede leave replacements and emergency fill-ins, but will improve the transparency and conditions for these temporary roles. Evaluation of faculty can still be under the purview of the CFA, which has the authority to deny reappointment to faculty who do not meet the expectations of their job. The AAUP recommends all faculty should have job security to ensure academic freedom and educational excellence. Since we’re tenure ineligible, the union offers a way to build much stronger protections
Myth: Every eligible faculty will have to join the union
While our union will bargain on behalf of the employees in our unit, each person has the option to join or refuse to join the union, as outlined in the NLRA.
Myth: By joining the union, you allow “the UAW” to determine all your working conditions, negotiations, and priorities.
The WOAW-UAW union will democratically elect leaders from our own Wellesley FIP community, who will advocate and bargain on behalf of us all. The UAW will provide help (for example, they helped submit the petition to the NLRB), but our community determines our priorities and approaches. The UAW represents more than 100,000 academic workers already, and it is that wing we’ll be working with.
Myth: A union will disrupt our existing academic and governance structure
Faculty unions and institutions of faculty governance coexist to mutual benefit at many academic institutions. Committees of academic council work on a wide range of issues, only some of which pertain to the terms and conditions of our employment. The need for shared governance remains, and we can bargain for contract provisions that protect our participation in existing structures. The AAUP affirms that unions are an effective means of protecting academic freedom and shared governance: “collective bargaining can ensure the effectiveness of [the governance] structure and can thereby contribute significantly to the well-being of the institution.”