UMass Unions United for Fair Contracts

University Staff Association/MTA, Massachusetts Society of Professors/MTA, Graduate Employee Organization/Local 2322/UAW, Professional Staff Union/MTA

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                     September 2, 2008

Contact:  Donna Johnson       413-545-5459

 Max Page                413-219-7633

UMass Unions Will Picket On First Day of Classes --

Protesting Lack of Fair Contract Offers

Members of four UMass unions will be holding informational pickets at key sites at UMass on the first of classes, September 2, to make the campus community aware of an ongoing contract dispute.  Union members will be distributing flyers protesting the failure of the UMass President’s Office to authorize any cost of living increases for thousands of UMass employees.

Contract negotiations began last January for contracts that expired on June 30, 2008.  The employer, the UMass Board of Trustees, and its President, Jack Wilson, have not offered workers any salary proposals; negotiations have been stalled as a result.

Last week, eleven unions representing faculty and staff at the University of Massachusetts and the Massachusetts state colleges filed “prohibited practice” charges with the Massachusetts Division of Labor Relations.  Workers accused their employers -- the Board of Higher Education for state college employees, and the UMass Board of Trustees for UMass employees -- of failing to bargain in good faith by refusing to offer financial proposals and therefore violating state law.

“Our goal on Tuesday is to inform students and other members of the campus community of the failure of the University administration to bargain in good faith,” said Jo Martone, president of the Professional Staff Union (PSU) at UMass Amherst.  “We believe that employee working conditions are student learning conditions, so this dispute is of concern to the entire UMass community.”

“Jack Wilson needs to know that faculty and staff in Amherst will not yield until he makes a fair offer,  said Donna Johnson, president of the University Staff Association. “We will be here for as long as it takes.”

Unions participating in the informational picketing action include the Massachusetts Society of Professions (MSP/MTA), the Professional Staff Union (PSU/MTA), the University Staff Association (USA/MTA), and the Graduate Employee Organization (GEO/UAW).  Together, they represent over five thousand employees at UMass Amherst. 

There will be a press availability beginning at noon in front of the W.E.B. Du Bois Library.

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