28 days on strike and our 29th bargaining session
In this update, the Bargaining Committee will provide an update on today’s bargaining session, followed by a message from members on our organizing committee.
From the bargaining committee:
Six days ago, we offered the College two comprehensive proposals: a one-year proposal (because the College has already agreed to a four-course workload for the next year) and a three-year proposal. The College did not respond to our request to schedule a bargaining session until yesterday afternoon, when they offered us a 2-hour bargaining session, which took place today from 10am-12pm. The College passed us a comprehensive package with some movement on compensation but no significant movement on job security and workload.
The College made some movement on compensation, with the largest salary increase contingent upon a five-course workload. The College continues to propose a lower starting salary for visiting faculty, a deviation from current practices at Wellesley. The College has stated that their proposal provides a 26% raise over three years for faculty who elect to teach a fifth course—a workload increase of 25%.
On job security, the College and the Union are negotiating the length of time before a BUE attains the “presumption of reappointment,” which means that a BUE who is meeting job expectations in their annual reviews can expect to be reappointed and keep their job. The College proposed that members attain a presumption of reappointment after successfully being reappointed three times—a process which takes 15 years. The College also proposed broad exceptions to the presumption of reappointment, such as “financial considerations.” When we asked for examples, they offered similarly vague language (financial needs, affordability) and ultimately demurred, saying it depends on the context.
The College also made little movement on Workload, maintaining the five course workload and incorporating the “concepts” for implementing this profound change to the education we deliver. When asked how lab curricula would be overhauled, they answered that individual instructors and departments would need to figure it out – and the contract would force them to do so. The College proposed a five-course workload on August 20, 2024. They have had 8 months to work out the details of their proposal, and still cannot answer basic questions about how a five-course workload would be implemented at Wellesley.
From members on our organizing committee:
We are 28 days into our strike, and the College has only spent 14 hours negotiating with our bargaining committee. They took six days to make no significant changes on two of three major articles that remain in dispute. Despite the College’s commitment to slow-walking bargaining, we know our strike has led to big wins for our members including gold-standard protections from discrimination and harassment, including protections from bullying, and a new dependent care benefit, the first ever at Wellesley. We maintained our members’ access to professional development funds and opportunities that will allow them to grow in their full capacity as scholar-teachers. We have won strong union rights and access, including winning course releases for two officers of the union per academic year. Our article on Dining won students the benefit of two additional guest passes on their meal cards per year, allowing them to invite us to a meal in the campus center and help towards the important goal of community building.
A supermajority of our members are on strike over critical remaining issues, including job security, compensation, and workload.
The College’s counterproposal on job security does not address our concerns. In their counterproposal, a BUE would have to wait fifteen years before receiving fundamental job security. Our members who have a proven record of meeting job expectations over several years deserve basic job security.
The College’s compensation offer is contingent upon a five-course workload. We did not unionize to re-make our jobs and worsen our working conditions. We unionized to make a real difference in our salaries and career tracks, and the College’s proposal takes several steps backwards by increasing our workload while not addressing the fundamental problems with our current salaries.
The College continues to bring a five-course workload to the table, with no thought-through plan on how to implement it. In today’s session, they asked our bargaining committee how they would suggest the five-course workload be implemented—the gall! Our bargaining committee is not proposing a five-course workload, and the College needs to be able to explain their own proposals without asking our bargaining committee to create an implementation plan for a proposal that we reject. How long will we have to forgo our paychecks while our students go without the education they paid for and deserve before the College realizes they have no idea how the 5-course workload will alter the Wellesley experience, for EVERYONE on campus?
Nick Doe, Senior Instructor in Science Laboratory (ISL) in Chemistry states, “With a 4 course load I’m able to teach labs that are equivalent to a research experience. With a 5 course load, it will be nearly impossible to safely and effectively teach these project labs. They would no longer exist.” Elizabeth Oakes, also a Senior ISL in Chemistry runs an upper-level open-inquiry experimental biochemistry research course that would also not be possible with the College’s proposed workload. These types of lab courses are the gold standard for scientific teaching and should be supported by Wellesley.
Amy Banzaert, Senior Lecturer in Engineering and Director of Engineering Studies explains, “The courses I teach are incredibly time-intensive in and outside of the contact hours. They are hands-on, project based, grounded in real-world community partnerships. To add another course, I would have to radically change my teaching to be much more lecture based, give multiple-choice quizzes instead of much more nuanced assessments, and remove the aspects of my course that enhance student interaction, belonging, and learning. I am honored to be a Pinanski prize winner and with a higher courseload I could no longer teach in the ways that led to this accolade.”
The College’s Workload proposal requires massive changes to curricula, departmental policies, and tenure-track faculty advising and service responsibilities, yet the College refuses to engage with a one-year proposal that would allow more time to develop a plan. We have no objection to a three-year contract—but we refuse to ratify a contract which worsens our working conditions while undermining the educational experience at Wellesley. If the College refuses to put forward a contract that we will ratify, we will be forced to enter the summer and potentially next academic year without a contract.
To support our demands, you can take some of the following actions:
For students:
JOIN UNILAD FOR THEIR RALLY!! Happening TOMORROW (4/24) 1-2pm in the Academic Quad.
Send this letter to your parents urging them to sign onto the Parents’ Call for a Fair Contract.
For parents:
Please sign onto this petition urging the college to bargain in good faith.
Get in contact with Wellesley Parents for a Better College (WPBC) to stay involved with future parent-led actions.
For alums:
Use this link to sign this letter from alums in support of our campaign.
In solidarity,
On behalf of the Organizing Committee
Paul Martorelli
Jacquelin Woodford
Amy Banzaert
Melissa Beers
Annie Brubaker
Elizabeth Oakes