Editor’s note: This commentary is by Karlyn Ellis, of Bennington, who is a member of Bennington College class of 2021, and John Lawson, of Portland, Oregon, a member of the class of 2015.
There is a workers’ rights crisis at Bennington College. Every four years, Service Employees International Union (SEIU Local 200), which represent workers in the buildings and grounds, housekeeping, and dining services departments, bargains with the college over the key issues of health care and wages. Other issues on the negotiating table are holiday time, formalizing job descriptions, and respecting seniority. The negotiation of a union contract, or collective bargaining agreement, involves two committees — one that represents management interests and one that represents the interests of union members.
The union contract was up on June 30. Without a contract in place, Bennington College workers feel the anxiety of job insecurity, working without explicit protections, the potential to expand subcontracting, and coming into work to find that their jobs have been replaced. The college and the union have only met twice since the 30th, in part because the college has cancelled or postponed meetings three times. By cancelling bargaining dates, the college has demonstrated their lack of concern for workers’ time, not taking into account that union members may have to spend money on child care or take time off of their supplementary jobs to attend negotiations. Two weeks ago, the college bargaining committee cancelled a major negotiation meeting with little notice, right off the heels of trying to push back negotiations a year. Meanwhile for workers, the emotional and monetary toll of postponing negotiations is adding up. Everyone needs livable wages and adequate health care at the very least, but Bennington College is making increasingly clear that these rights are not guaranteed to their employees.
During the last contract negotiations, hundreds of students demonstrated in support of campus workers in response to the college attempting to push back negotiations till the summer, and relocating meetings to other cities in order to prevent student involvement and exhaust workers. This contract negotiation is no different.
Wages and health care are among the most important issues on the negotiating table. A number of workers have to work secondary jobs in order to support themselves and their families. Campus workers are stretched thin. They should not have to work second and third jobs; they deserve a stable income from the college, the second largest employer of this town. Bennington College has an opportunity to ensure a better quality of life for our workers by giving them better wages and better health care, but instead they give our workers more expensive health care with each contract, while bosses try to intimidate them out of organizing with or even accepting support from students.
A group of students has been organizing in solidarity with union workers since fall 2018. They have an ongoing campaign to establish livable wages and adequate health care, holding regular check-ins with workers about how to best support the union. In the spring, they organized a labor rights town hall centered around campus workers, attended by over 150 students, staff, and Bennington community members, featuring a panel of 12 workers speaking out about their experiences working for Bennington College. The town hall raised awareness and support for workers within the college community, but now it is time to put pressure on the college to honor our union staff and the important work they do.
Now, current students and alumni are standing together to demand that the college engage in a good faith bargaining process and that they meet the union’s needs. Bennington College needs to respect the health, well-being, and dignity of our workers by giving them what they need and deserve as important members of our community. Alumni still feel the impact that campus workers had on them; current students feel the amazing impact of campus workers every day. We demand that Bennington College take care of our workers. Campus workers have always had our backs. It is past time that we have theirs.
Alumni and students are taking a stand for campus workers. You can start by signing this online petition, demanding that the college bargain in good faith: https://tinyurl.com/DemandGoodFaith
