Bates workers say college has threatened against unionizing attempt

File photo / Tim Greenway Clayton Spencer is president of Bates College in Lewiston.

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By Jessica Hall

Bates College employees seeking to form a union have filed unfair labor practice allegations against the Lewiston school, saying the administration threatened workers who are organizing with the loss of their jobs or benefits.

Employees of the Bates Educators & Staff Organization also contended that the Bates administration has maintained and enforced a no-solicitation rule to prevent employees from exercising their legal right to unionize.

Organizers filed a complaint Monday with the National Labor Relations Board. Bates said it has not received a copy of the complaint and so was unable to comment on its content.

Earlier this month, some faculty and staff petitioned the NLRB to form a union in an effort to improve working conditions and compensation and expand diversity efforts at the Lewiston college, which has an enrollment of 2,000.

The union would be affiliated with the Maine Service Employees Association, Local 1989 of the Service Employees International Union. There are about 650 eligible employees, 100 of which are adjunct faculty.

“All we’ve ever wanted was the space to have open and honest conversations with our colleagues about the things we love about Bates and the things we want to see changed,'' said Olivia Orr, web designer at Bates and BESO organizer.

“We've had some really amazing conversations all across campus since this began, and are building relationships across departments that make the College a stronger and more welcoming place. But this requires a work environment free from misinformation and intimidation,” Orr said.

Threatening adverse consequences such as discipline, termination, or loss of benefits for union activity, whether the union activity occurred during or off work-time, is illegal under the National Labor Relations Act.

According to the law, employers may not “prohibit employees from talking about the union during working time, if you permit them to talk about other non-work-related subjects.”

U.S. Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine 2nd District, said in a letter to the union that he supported employees' right to organize and bargain collectively and he urged Bates administration officials to refrain from efforts to intervene or influence the outcome of the process.

“I want you to know that I support your efforts,” Golden said in his letter. “I believe that any decision you make around organizing should be free of interference, misinformation, harassment, or intimidation. Union-busting tactics are antithetical to respecting workers’ rights and should not be accepted,” Golden said.

In a letter to Bates president Clayton Spencer, more than 70 Maine legislators also voiced support for the employees’ right to unionize and urged the college to remain neutral.

Spencer, for her part, wrote in an online letter that the college would “protect the rights of all eligible employees to decide for themselves whether or not they wish to be exclusively represented by this union.”

She said Bates would not tolerate or engage in interference with these rights, and would respect the outcome of the election.

Still, Bates doesn't plan to remain silent during the process. Spencer said the NLRB allows allows both employers and employees to express views, arguments, and opinions on the topic of unionization.

“This election will likely be one of the most consequential decisions that any of our employees will ever make in their workplace, and they deserve to understand the process of unionization and its consequences, what it can do and what it cannot do for them. They deserve to hear all sides,” Spencer said.