Wellesley Organized Academic Workers ULP Strike Date Set for March 27th

“After ten months of bargaining, Wellesley College is still engaging in unlawful conduct that is thwarting progress at the table on several key issues, including workload, compensation, and crucial job protections. We are left with no choice but to call for a strike,” said Dr. Katie Hall member of the bargaining committee

WELLESLEY – Non-Tenure-Track Faculty and Mellon Postdoctoral Fellows at Wellesley College will walk off the job and onto the picket line on Thursday, March 27th unless the College rectifies its unlawful conduct so that meaningful progress can be made at the bargaining table.

The Wellesley Organized Academic Workers - UAW (WOAW-UAW) represents approximately 125 non-tenure-track faculty and postdoctoral scholars at Wellesley College, who teach, mentor, and advise the more than 2400 undergraduate students at Wellesley. After months of growing frustration over the College’s unlawful conduct, which has hindered progress at the bargaining table over key issues, an overwhelming majority of members voted in favor of authorizing their elected bargaining committee to call a strike.

“I’ve been at Wellesley since 2018 and have two young children. My base salary doesn’t even cover full-time childcare. I chose to teach an additional course this semester to earn additional income to cover childcare expenses,” says Dr. Jacquelin Woodford, Lecturer.

“It feels like the height of hypocrisy that Wellesley College, a women’s college, is taking advantage of an archaic hierarchy to underpay what has traditionally been considered women’s work, will not set the standard for protections from sexual harassment, and is refusing to provide NTT faculty with child care or tuition benefits for their children,” said Dr. Katie Hall, Distinguished Senior Lecturer and member of the Bargaining Committee.

“The College’s proposed increase in workload from 4 to 5 courses per year is an untenable and calculated degradation of our roles as faculty who teach, advise, mentor student research, and engage in professional development,” said Dr. Christa Skow, Senior Instructor of Science Laboratory. “Our unit members will not ratify a contract with an increased teaching load that comes at the expense of our students’ learning conditions and our working conditions.”

“Our hope is that the College averts a strike by rectifying its unlawful conduct so that we can negotiate a fair agreement,” said Erin Battat, Senior Lecturer and member of the Bargaining Committee. “We are committed to reaching an agreement, but our labor is critical to the life of the College and we are prepared to strike in order to hold the College accountable.”

Learn more at www.wellesleyorganizedacademicworkers.org

###