Updates on Union Negotiations

Dear School of Arts and Sciences and SMFA community members,

As we prepare to welcome everyone to campus for the beginning of classes, we want to make you aware of several ongoing negotiations with unions representing different groups at the university. These include UNITE-HERE Local 26, representing our dining employees; SEIU Local 509, representing A&S and SMFA part-time lecturers (PTLs), SMFA Professors of the Practice, and GSAS PhD students; and OPEIU Local 153, representing AS&E Resident Assistants (RAs).

The university values its relationship with all employees and respects when groups elect to unionize and collectively bargain. In all our collective bargaining relationships, our goal is to support the university’s mission  – to be a student-centered institution focused on creating transformative experiences for our learners – and to follow a set of principles. Those principles include an emphasis on quality learning and research opportunities, ensuring a safe and respectful work environment, individual and institutional accountability, efficiency, and flexibility. We also seek equity across various groups of similarly situated employees, while being responsible stewards of university resources. For more on the university’s guiding principles and approach to working with unionized employees, please visit go.tufts.edu/laborrelations.

Out of respect for the bargaining process, we want to maintain confidentiality on the specifics of these negotiations. However, given the number of negotiations happening concurrently, we feel it is important to update our community as we start the academic year.

Dining Union

This week, UNITE-HERE Local 26, the union that represents our dining employees, ratified an agreement to provide Tufts dining workers with competitive compensation and benefits. We look forward to continuing a productive and respectful relationship with the union and our dining employees.

School of Arts and Sciences (including SMFA) Part-Time Lecturers (PTLs)

All PTLs at Tufts School of Arts and Sciences (including SMFA PTLs) are represented by SEIU Local 509 and governed by a Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) which was negotiated and ratified last year. That agreement runs through 2027. This spring, by agreement with the union, the CBA was reopened solely on the terms and conditions of compensation for SMFA faculty. These negotiations are active and ongoing, and we are now working with a federal mediator to reach an amicable agreement and resolution on all unresolved issues. For further details, please see the message sent on August 21 to the SMFA campus community.

Graduate School of Arts and Sciences PhD Students

Doctoral students in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences are represented by SEIU Local 509. Their first CBA was valid from 2018 to June 2023, and the next five-year agreement is currently under negotiation, with the next bargaining session scheduled for the second week of September.

SMFA Professors of the Practice

In spring 2023, SMFA Professors of the Practice voted to unionize and are now represented by SEIU Local 509. Negotiations for the first Collective Bargaining Agreement will begin this academic year.

AS&E Resident Assistants

Earlier this spring, the Residential Assistants (RAs) elected to form a union with OPEIU Local 153. We have been actively engaged in negotiating their first contract and are optimistic that we will come to an agreement. However, first-time contracts often take up to a year to negotiate.  The university offered to meet the RAs at 11:00 this morning and the union accepted.

Community Awareness

As we continue our negotiations with each of these bargaining units, the members may conduct various marketing campaigns to promote positions. This is an expected and acceptable part of the process.

We anticipate everyone involved will respect our community values and one another’s right to enjoy the new semester without disruption.  While we support the units’ engagement with our campus, any actions or activities that create a hostile campus environment, endanger public safety, or violate our Student Code of Conduct will not be tolerated.

We will keep you informed as negotiations progress. You will find community updates at go.tufts.edu/laborrelations.

Respectfully yours,

James M. Glaser
Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences
Professor of Political Sciences

Bárbara M. Brizuela
Dean, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
Professor of Education

Scheri Fultineer
Dean of the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts
Professor of the Practice