Union members at public colleges and universities are joining with other state workers in demanding that the Healey administration greatly improve the financial parameters for upcoming contracts compared to those that have been used in previous rounds of negotiations conducted under Governor Charlie Baker.
A coalition of MTA union members working at community colleges, state universities and the UMass campuses has insisted that Governor Maura Healey’s administration and finance office – which establishes financial ground rules for bargaining contracts with state employees – must consider at least a 20 percent cost-of-living increase over the three-year span.
More than 8,000 unionized public higher education workers signed a letter that was delivered to Healey in February, explaining the need to drastically improve bargaining parameters.
Members have since followed up with emails explaining how their depressed wages have affected them, as well as their campuses. Many point to the high number of vacant positions – more than 430 at UMass Amherst alone – and the commensurate increase in workloads for those doing the jobs.
The Massachusetts Association of State Colleges and Massachusetts Community College Council further pushed to get individual campus presidents to sign a letter to Healey explaining that parameters need to be well above the annual 2 percent to 3.5 percent wage increases seen during the Baker years.
"We cannot attract and retain high-quality educators as we don’t pay them enough to stay around," said MCCC Vice President Joe Nardoni, a professor at Middlesex Community College. "Poor parameters prevent our full-time faculty and professional staff members from keeping up with inflation. Furthermore, parameters that don’t address inflation depress starting salaries across the system."
Nardoni pointed to a case in which a Middlesex graduate went on to earn a master’s degree in fine arts and returned to teach writing at the community college as an adjunct faculty member. This uniquely qualified educator wanted a full-time job, but none was being offered, and even if a full-time position had opened, the pay was less than what she ended up earning writing for a nonprofit agency.
MTA’s higher education chapters and locals are coordinating with unionized state employees in other areas to push the Healey administration into setting parameters that value the work of public employees and allow them to stay ahead of inflation.
Healey’s initial budget does boost spending on public colleges and universities, which may be a good sign.
The governor allocated about $370 million in additional money raised from the Fair Share Amendment for public higher education. These funds are above and beyond a 3 percent increase in campus operating budgets.
In keeping with the goals of the MTA-backed Cherish Act and the Higher Ed For All campaign, the proposed funding will mean more financial aid for students, additional funding for student services support and much-needed capital investment in the maintenance of public college and university campuses.
In written messages to Healey, union members cited the state’s willingness to raise salaries for legislators by 37 percent since 2017, and the governor’s salary by 20 percent this year.
"Public higher ed employees deserve the same consideration and treatment," the messages said. "We need parameters that don’t make a mockery of collective bargaining, or the work we do for our students across the Commonwealth."
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