Unionized teacher at Lesley University began a two-day strike at 1 p.m. Tuesday, picketing at the schools arts building in Porter Square. Demands include livable wages, manageable workloads and a “successorship clause” to keep their contract if the school is sold.
The strike comes after nearly two years of contract negotiations, members said – including a marathon Zoom session that began at noon Monday and went until 3:45 a.m.
The outcome, an offer of a 2 percent increase in pay, was better than the zero percent previously on offer but not enough to stave off the action, said Jason Butler, a drama therapy professor who is on the negotiating committee for the union.
“Someone yesterday said it’s like we’ve been put at the kids table. It’s been so abusive,” Butler said, describing talks in which a four-person team from the university is silent, save for an infamous antilabor lawyer, Katie Lev. “It is gross, it is offensive, it is not professional.”
The strike began with a rally in front of Lesley’s Lunder arts building, where a couple of hundred educators, students and allies – including city councillor Jivan Sobrinho-Wheeler and Chris Montero, head of the Cambridge Education Association – gathered for festive noise making, chants and speeches. After the rally, picketing at University Hall one block up was expected to take place until 4:45 p.m. and pick up again the next day.
It’s a troubled time for Lesley, where president Janet Steinmayer steps down June 30 to be replaced on an interim basis by chief operating officer Joanne Kossuth. The departure was announced Thursday.
Lesley, founded in 1909, has been cutting programs, laying off faculty and selling property to eliminate a deficit and find sustainability as the country faces a “demographic cliff” – a drop-off in available students – and faltering economy. Hampshire College in Amherst announced April 14 that it is closing after 56 years amid financial struggles resulting from declining enrollment. Anna Maria College, an 80-year-old Catholic college outside Worcester, announced on Thursday that it too will close before the fall.
Unionized core faculty at Lesley University voted by “an overwhelming majority” on April 16 in support of a strike, according to SEIU Local 509. The union of human service providers and educators in Massachusetts represent 82 core faculty. The union said it has filed five unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board for multiple issues, including unilateral changes that affect workload.
Steinmayer got three votes of no confidence from faculty, and a series of student protests were seen in 2023 as programs were cut under a “Better Lesley” plan. Labor negotiations began shortly afterward.
“At the start of negotiations nearly two years ago, management came to the table with a zero percent wage increase proposal, and they have dragged out negotiations since,” said Julie Shoemaker, an associate professor of Earth and Environmental Science. “We’ve urged them to bargain in good faith, but they have shown that they do not value the contributions of the workers who keep this university running. You can’t build a sustainable academic community when faculty are treated as disposable.”
A university spokesperson was emailed Tuesday for comment, but there was no immediate reply.
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