Unions to Picket Governor Patrick Thursday in Amherst
Governor Patrick will be greeted by protestors when he holds a meeting of his Cabinet in Amherst on Thursday.UMass staff and faculty have been working without a contract since July 1 because the Patrick administration has not authorized any salary increases for the next three years.
“Anything less than a raise that matches the cost of living is unacceptable.With gas, heat, and food prices all skyrocketing, it’s getting harder and harder to afford to work at UMass,” said Sylvia Snape, a secretary in the English department and member of the University Staff Association.
Amherst gave Deval Patrick 84% of the vote -- his biggest majority of any city or town in Massachusetts -- when he ran for Governor in 2006.Now, however, members of the community are worried that his labor relations policies may not be beneficial to the town.Mitch Gaslin of Food for Thought Books said, “Businesses in town are very dependent on university employees.If their wages don’t keep up with the cost of living, they spend less money in town, hurting businesses, the tax base, and ultimately town services.”
In a visit to Amherst in December 2006, the Governor-Elect proclaimed that he would be the “Champion of Public Higher Education”.Max Page, President of the faculty/librarian union at UMass Amherst, plans to ask the Governor: “How can you champion public higher education without offering fair raises to keep good, hard-working faculty and staff at the University?”
The Cabinet meeting will be at the BangsCommunity Center on Boltwood Walk on Thursday, July 17 from 2:00 to 3:30.Protestors will be picketing outside starting at 1:30.
