Update #9: We reject discrimination

What do you think about the title “Master Lecturer”? Do you care that this language is rooted in slavery? The College doesn’t. 

The College’s behavior in our first bargaining session of the school year made this session the most disappointing one to date. In addition to not engaging substantively with many of our seventeen proposals currently in the College’s hands, in our ninth bargaining session, the College rejected our proposed titles and instead proposed a new title for BUEs, “Master Lecturer,” in their counterproposal (read here). Katie Hall, a member of our bargaining committee, asked the College to explain why they proposed the title “master lecturer,” even after they noted the term is controversial. The College doubled down, arguing that not everyone considers this language racist and it is still in use in academia. Their disregard for equity and inclusion is in keeping with their unwillingness to respect the Martin Luther King holiday (read their proposals on Holidays and Wintersession Proposals) and their refusal to agree to industry standards for higher education regarding protections from discrimination and harassment (read their proposal here). Their proposals do not reflect our values as a union or the values of Wellesley as a women’s college. 

We have the power to change the direction of bargaining, but we need your support. Our bargaining team is committed to upholding our values and winning a contract that will be a gold standard in higher education. The contract we win will set standards that other unions and employers will look to in bargaining—protections against discrimination and harassment are particularly precarious for graduate students and postdocs. These are issues that disproportionately affect women in higher education and Wellesley can and should set standards that protect and promote the advancement of women in higher education.  

Let’s help Wellesley live up to its stated values of Empowerment and Social Change. You can start by reading our letter in support of protections against discrimination and harassment, signing it here, and sharing it with a friend, colleague, student, or alum in the Wellesley community 

Help us address this issue at our next bargaining session on September 24. RSVP here. 

As always, you can find all of the proposals passed in bargaining here, and find all of our bargaining updates here.

Your bargaining committee,

Erin Battat, Lecturer, Writing Program
Deb Bauer, Senior Lecturer, Neuroscience
Katie Hall, Distinguished Senior Lecturer, Physics
Mike Mavros, ISL, Chemistry
Christa Skow, Senior ISL, Biology

Note: the College sent an update proposal on September 6. Read our update here.