On Monday, March 11, over 300 Wellesley College students, faculty and staff gathered outside the College’s Central Street entrance to rally for the Wellesley Organized Academic Workers (WOAW) Union.
Community members wore red in solidarity with WOAW, circulating signs, chant scripts and a student pledge. Attendees remained on the sidewalk for the duration of the rally to avoid gathering on the private property of the College. Speakers included union members, students, tenured faculty and Independent Maintenance and Service Employees Unions of America (IMSEUA) members.
Attendees walked from the Central Street vehicle entrance to the College pedestrian entrance at the corner of Central Street and Weston Road. People chanted “Hey hey, ho ho!/Wellesley greed has got to go,” “When I say Union, You Say Power” and “Wellesley, step off it!/Put people over profit.” Cars driving by honked in solidarity with the rally participants.
WOAW faculty expressed excitement over the student and union member turnout at the event.
“I always knew our students were smart enough to not buy the College’s narrative that you know what they’re proposing is totally fine for students, but to actually see it in action was really moving,” said Professor Deb Bauer.
WOAW faculty were also grateful for the amount of union members who came to the rally.
“I was really heartened to see how many unit members showed up … To see the community coming together in a moment like this to really show the College the solidarity of the unit, it was really impressive to me,” said Professor Paul Martorelli.
Professors are hopeful that this rally will encourage progress in the bargaining with the College.
“I hope they realize that the things that we have been proposing are not unreasonable and that the changes that the College is proposing would hurt the entire community,” said Professor Christa Skow.
Current State of Bargaining
This demonstration occurred following the Strike Authorization Vote, which 93% of voting members approved earlier this month. Bargaining issues that led to the vote include compensation and workplace protections.
The WOAW Instagram page stated that the College emailed several departments offering $250 per class to tenure-track faculty who remain working in the case of a strike. In a statement to The News, a spokesperson for the College said, “If there is a work stoppage, the College’s top priority will be the academic experience of our students.”
According to the College’s available union website, Wellesley is developing contingency plans to mitigate possible strike-related disruptions to academics, campus safety and other programs. The College told The News that they will share details of the plans “if and when they are needed.”
In addition to the rally, the WOAW union urged community members to email the College administration and the Board of Trustees in solidarity.
Students Pledge to Strike
In response to the ongoing back and forth between WOAW and the College surrounding the Strike Authorization Vote, students have started an independent student pledge through social media platforms and student body emails from the student Community Organizing and Inclusion Liaison.
Students who sign the pledge agree to abstain from classes taught by non-tenure track faculty for the duration of the strike, even if, according to the pledge, “the College brings in scab labor to cover the course.”
Alex Teasley ’27, one of the organizers of the pledge, described its purpose as a “deterrent” to a strike.
“The hope is that the school will see this and … just meet WOAW at the negotiating table,” said Teasley, “If that does happen, then I’m hopeful that WOAW will still know in the future that they have 400 students who are ready to strike with them.”
By Saturday March 15, the pledge received 506 responses.
Contact the editors responsible for this story: Sazma Sarwar and Valida Pau
