Bates College faculty, staff seek to form union

Courtesy / BESO Student Organizing Committee Students put up signs and banners around the Bates campus in Lewiston to support the union effort.

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By Jessica Hall

Some of Bates College’s faculty and staff on Monday filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board to form a union in an effort to improve working conditions and compensation and expand diversity efforts.

The organizers said union membership would be open to anyone who receives a paycheck from the Lewiston school. It would include anyone who is not management, tenured or tenure-track faculty, or a campus safety officer.

The union, the Bates Educators & Staff Organization, would be affiliated with the Maine Service Employees Association, Local 1989 of the Service Employees International Union.

A “strong majority” of contingent faculty indicated their desire to unionize, organizers said. There are about 650 eligible employees, 100 of which are adjunct faculty.

“Our mission is to build a strong, unified voice to improve labor conditions at the college and champion the social, economic, physical, and mental well being of all Bates employees, especially the most under-compensated and vulnerable among us,” the group said in a statement.

“Over the past year, too many of our coworkers have left due to dissatisfaction, low pay and poor working conditions at the college. Losing so much talent and expertise has added more work for those of us who remain, diminishing our capacity to provide quality learning and living conditions for our students."

Students placed signs to support the union efforts on academic and residential buildings.

Faculty members announced their support at their October meeting, and shared a petition calling on Bates President Clayton Spencer and trustees to remain neutral and not to interfere as organizers talk with co-workers about unionizing.

The organizers said some workers have reported “increased workplace surveillance and an atmosphere of fear, particularly in departments where we are most under-compensated and vulnerable.”

“We call upon the Bates administration to refrain from any further attempts to influence our choices,” organizers said.

Bates did not return a request for comment.