There is a common misconception made that unions do not and should not take part in discussions beyond that of their members and own interests. SEIU Local 615 recently tackled this issue from the perspective of a property service local union involved in the dialogue about Higher Education policy.
An op-ed in the New England Journal of Higher Education by Higher Education Director Wayne Langley of SEIU Local 615 sheds light on the interests of the union.
“First, our union cares because higher education is one of the few remaining paths for working people to secure a decent future for their children. It never has been an absolute guarantee of economic success, as most recent graduates have learned—but it is a chance. Our members still believe in education as a path to personal fulfillment and economic security, and like other parents, many of them struggle to pay the rising costs of tuition. Today, a growing number of parents lose that struggle.
I recently led contract negotiations at a major university. Management told our committee that we shouldn’t expect much of a raise since “tuition can’t go up forever.” In our caucus discussion, I was surprised at how deeply our committee—made up of custodians and electricians, grounds workers and plumbers—identified with the parents of the college students. Returning to negotiations, we agreed to accept management’s low wage offer in return for a freeze on tuition and fees. Of course, the university rejected that offer; but the workers did identify with and support the parents.
Second, our union cares because colleges and universities, at least in New England, have historically been some of the last outposts for good jobs and a hedge against recession. Of course, there are plenty of bad jobs at education institutions—service “Mc-jobs” that pay $8.50 an hour with no benefits and low-paid adjunct professors living on food stamps—but among all our members employed in the service sector, those who work in universities have tended to be better paid and to have benefits….”
Click here to read more about how a wide range of stakeholders- including labor, communities, students, and parents, must join together to forge a new social compact where higher education institutions fulfill their educational and public missions.
From the article in the New England Journal of Higher Education in part
Higher education is at a crossroads, not only in the U.S. but also globally. This challenge is prompting an immigrant union, on the centennial anniversary of the “Bread and Roses” strike at Lawrence Mills, to once again take up the labor movement’s historic role of speaking for the common good and the broad interests of working people.
So proud know the workers at SEIU 615