Wellesley, Massachusetts – As the strike by non-tenure track faculty at Wellesley College extends into its third week, the College has issued a new and urgent call to the union to stop the strike and agree to mediation to help reach an agreement.
“The College first offered mediation March 26, but [the union] has refused, insisting that it would be ‘premature,’” Provost Courtney Coile and Chief Human Resources Officer Carolyn Slaboden wrote in an email to the College community following the April 7 bargaining session. “This is hardly the case—the parties have been negotiating for almost a year.”
The College’s email noted that over the course of 27 bargaining sessions, much of the contract has been settled. But the core issues of workload, compensation, and issues around reappointment rights remain unresolved. “Under the circumstances, a mediator could help move the negotiations forward more quickly by engaging in ongoing ‘shuttle diplomacy’ between the two parties,” the email noted.
In union negotiations, both parties must agree to mediation. “[W]e feel it is urgent that we try [this] path,” Coile and Slaboden noted in their email. “In light of the ongoing strike and disruption to our campus community, it is incomprehensible that the union would continue to refuse this tried-and-true approach to resolving differences.”