On Monday, July 22nd, we had our first real Day Bargaining session with management about our next 3-year contract where we discussed ground rules. We are not required to have ground rules, but they can be a way to establish some principles and guidelines for bargaining and to make the process clear and understood by both parties.
Management opened with their proposal for ground rules. We agreed with many of them, for example that tentative agreements should be written up and signed by both parties, and that bargaining sessions should be closed sessions that include silent representatives (our members). Having our fellow union members serve as silent representatives is an important part of our bargaining process. The bargaining team wants to hear from our “silent” representatives and what they’re seeing at the table, how it relates to their own work lives, and perspectives and experiences that are really helpful to the team.
One big sticking point is over the use of remote meeting technologies (Zoom) to allow for fully online or hybrid negotiation sessions . Management’s opening position was that all bargaining sessions shall be held in person, and they argued that extended bargaining sessions would make better use of our time (fewer sessions/less total commuting time)
While our team sees the value in having some in-person meetings, we also believe that given all bargaining representatives are volunteering their time; our demanding workloads (which involve heavy teaching schedules); the fact that as faculty and librarians, we have had to learn how to navigate zoom and hybrid spaces; and the burdens of travel time and costs (and carbon emissions), it makes greater sense to be flexible in creating a bargaining schedule. We have also seen how the difficulty in finding times to meet in person has held up negotiations in DGCE bargaining when management insisted on meeting in person after we made it clear that we had no availability. We are bargaining on behalf of nine state universities across the commonwealth and, just as many other state-wide entities (such as the Board of Higher Education and the MSCA Board of Directors) take advantage of these technologies to facilitate participation, we believe that our bargaining should as well.
We did not come to an agreement on this issue on Monday. We have agreed to an in-person bargaining session scheduled for August 6th at Worcester State 11am to 3pm. We offered this session in-person to make it clear that we are not opposed to meeting in person. We proposed the session on the 6th to have a hybrid option so that our silent representatives could observe over zoom. We made it clear that we would take full responsibility for setting up the hybrid technology, that it would only be for silent reps, and that there would be no disruption to the negotiations (i.e., we would not delay the start of bargaining to troubleshoot technology issues). Management refused to agree to a hybrid option.
As faculty and librarians, we are overworked and underpaid. We had hoped that management would be receptive to taking advantage of the technology skills we honed during the height of the pandemic. This would enable us to schedule more sessions, offer more opportunities to bargain in the breaks in between our 12-credit teaching load, offer greater accessibility, and ensure that our team is connected with the members that we represent. We were disappointed by management’s reception to our proposals on Monday.
Management is trying to make it harder for faculty and librarians to participate in the bargaining process of your own contract. Let’s show them they can’t hide from us by not allowing hybrid bargaining or by pushing to meet in person.
Send them a message by joining us on Tuesday, August 6th! You can up to be a silent representative with this link.
If you’re interested in carpooling to Worcester there is a question for that on the sign-up form. We are hopeful that we can come to agreement over ground rules on the 6th and start presenting and discussing our proposals to address our working conditions.
There will also be another session on Tuesday, August 20th on zoom Stay tuned for details on how to participate as a silent representative!
In solidarity,
The MSCA Day Bargaining Team
Katie Riel, Chair (MassArt Rep)
Charlotte Haller, Vice Chair (Worcester Rep)
Jennifer Hartsfield (Bridgewater Rep)
Jenna Mendell (Bridgewater Alternate)
Rala Diakite (Fitchburg Rep)
Laura Baker (Fitchburg Alternate)
Ann Johnson (Framingham Rep)
Cara Pina (Framingham Alternate)
Carter Carter (MCLA Rep)
Hannah Haynes (MCLA Alternate)
Caleb Pendygraft (Maritime)
Dan Mulcare (Salem Rep)
Margot Hennessy (Westfield Rep)
Chris Masi (Westfield Alternate)
Sam O’Connell (Worcester Alternate)
Joanna Gonsalves (MSCA President)
Roberta James (MTA Rep)
Bret Seferian (MTA Rep)
Thomas Lee (MTA Rep)
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