UMass Amherst Drives Out Working People & Families with its Anti-Union Tactics Fri, 03/25/2005 - 4 years later - same story:
The Graduate Employee Organization/UAW Local 2322, has represented workers who teach and do research at the University of Massachusetts Amherst for 15 years. GEO/UAW has been negotiating for over a year with the University over the terms of a new contract.
UMass insists that its top priorities in these negotiations are raising health insurance fees and childcare fees, while at the same time they are proposing real wage cuts. Under UMasss proposals, health care costs for individuals would rise from $0 to a projected $508 over the next few years. UMass would also have complete control over the benefits offered and could change them at any time without negotiations, according to their proposal.
While these dollar amount may not sound enormous, many of our members live below the poverty line and are not permitted by law to work more than part-time. These increases mean the difference between just scraping by and going into deep debt, said Jen Turner, GEO President.
Currently many grad parents, because they live below the poverty line, do not pay for their childrens care while theyre working or taking classesunder UMasss proposals, some of those same parents would be paying almost $5000 for the same care. Weve calculated that while families making the minimum stipend can currently make ends meet, were the Universitys proposals to be implemented it would be impossible for them to afford their basic necessities. The University is proposing that these employees pay up to 79% of their income for University childcare services, while at the same time their health insurance costs would rise by one-third by FY06.
UMass is also proposing that they be allowed to privatize the childcare center our union fought so hard to create for working parents. While they claim to value childcare they refuse to treat it like any other essential service they currently provide. Instead they claim the center must be self-sufficient and that they cant afford to contribute to the center even thought is represents less than 1/1000th of their budget.
We know that if the center is privatized, the SEIU teachers at the center will no longer make a living wage, turnover will increase and quality care will suffer, said GEO Family Issues Coordinator and parent, Megan McDonough.
UMass is also complicit in pushing forward Governor Romneys agenda in the context of our contract. Although the issue of same-sex partner benefits never came up in a year of bargaining, UMass has suddenly made a new proposal to end health benefits for same-sex couples that our members have enjoyed for years.
The irony is that at the very same time Romney is aggressively lobbying against gay marriage, his office is also demanding that same-sex couples present a marriage certificate to obtain benefits at UMass. Why is UMass creating more uninsured people in our community when the Legislature has made extending health care to more people a priority in 2005? said UAW Local 2322 President, Ron Patenaude.
The truth is that none of these takebacks are necessary because of budgetary constraints. In reality, UMasss budget has been on the rise and they can afford to pay their workers fairly. Their aggressive positions are instead fueled by the anti-worker agenda of Governor Romney, who has also been responsible for denying 13,000 UMass workers across the state their backpay from 2001-2004. Romney has made a mockery of the collective bargaining process by tying wages that the Governors office had already approved to Democrats accepting his proposed tax cuts.
Currently, GEO/UAW has charges filed against UMass with the Massachusetts Labor Relations Commission because of their refusal to provide the union with information related to bargaining. The union will hold a mass march on the UMass campus on March 31 at Noon, starting at the student union steps to protest UMasss rollback of 15 years of union progress. We need the help of the Western MA Labor Community to win this battlethe threats to our wages and benefits are the same threats faced by thousands of other workers on UMass campus, workers across the state and the country. If you believe that our states flagship University should provide education to working people and families, join our fight.
To find out more about our struggle, you can call Jen at (413) 545-0705 or check out our website at http://www.geouaw.org.
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