Pay issues central to contract talks in WMass higher ed, as a new semester nears
Members of the Professional Staff Union at the University of Massachusetts Amherst will rally Wednesday, as they push for wage increases and better benefits in their contract after more than a year of negotiations.
With the fall semester near, some unionized college and university staff are still negotiating contracts. The Republican checked in with unions at a selection of higher education institutions up and down the Pioneer Valley about the status of their contracts — and whether changes with the federal government are having an impact on their talks.
Today's report offers details on current labor issues at local colleges and universities.
Community colleges throughout the state, including Holyoke Community College and Springfield Technical Community College
ENROLLMENT: HCC had 4,200 students last fall, and STCC had 5,447.
NEGOTIATION HIGHLIGHTS: Bargaining is ongoing for a contract that covers adjunct faculty at the state's 15 community colleges. A separate contract for other professional staff at the colleges will be ratified soon – though there's still frustration about pay.
DETAILS: Negotiations for a contract covering adjunct faculty at community colleges across the state have stalled, said Claudine Barnes, president of the Massachusetts Community College Council, the union that represents faculty and professional staff at the colleges.
A separate contract that covers full-time faculty and professional staff, and a portion of part-time faculty, is about to be ratified but there's still broad frustration over pay, Barnes said. The union negotiates with the Department of Higher Education and representatives from the community colleges. The union initially asked for a 70% wage increase to bring pay up to par with those at community colleges in California and correct what Barnes said is a longstanding lagging pay problem, but the union received 3.5%.
"We are pleased to have reached a tentative, one-year agreement with the Massachusetts Community College Council that includes a 3.5% salary increase," a spokesperson for the Department of Higher education said in a statement. "This agreement recognizes the important contributions faculty bring while also meeting budget criteria."
Before that 3.5% raise, the average faculty salary at the state's community colleges was about $68,000, according to an analysis the Massachusetts Teachers Association commissioned. When adjusted for the cost of living, that was ranked last compared to the "peer" states the study examined.
"One of the other challenges, because of the money, is that most of the (full-time) faculty and staff … have to have other employment because they can't afford to live in Massachusetts," Barnes said.
"The Department is committed to continuing to work with the union and higher education stakeholders on improving faculty recruitment and retention," the DHE spokesperson said, "as well as larger efforts by the Healey-Driscoll Administration to reduce the cost of living for all residents of Massachusetts."
The state will soon take a deeper look at pay at community colleges. A salary study of positions at community colleges is being funded through the recently passed state budget.
Those issues come amid growing interest in community college. Last year, the state made community college free regardless of age or income for those who don't already have a bachelor's degree. The state saw a 14% boost in students at community colleges last year, bucking a trend of decline, according to Gov. Maura Healey's office .
The new program is "absolutely amazing," Barnes said, but she says there's not enough staff to do it justice.
"Everybody is overworked and overburdened," said Barnes, who in addition to serving as council president works full-time teaching U.S. history and political science at Cape Cod Community College.
Union chapter president Renae Gorman, who is a professor of physical therapy at Springfield Technical Community College, said union members feel overworked and underpaid. Aug. 22, 2025 (Hoang 'Leon' Nguyen / The Republican)The Republican
That's a sentiment shared by Renae Gorman, Springfield Technical Community College's chapter president for the multi-college council.
"There are global issues that we discuss as part of our contract," she said. But with issues specific to STCC, unit members can "vent to college management on a monthly basis, but we can't ensure just and fair treatment to be reflected in our contracts," said Gorman, who is also a professor of physical therapy.
"We feel heard but not always listened to," she said.
A spokesperson for Holyoke Community College said the school doesn't comment on contract negotiations and directed questions to MCCC. A spokesperson for Springfield Technical Community College did not return requests for comment. The state's Department of Higher Education didn't provide comments.
Andrew Gorry, the co-chair of the Professional Staff Union, outside the University of Massachusetts Amherst College of Education building. August 21, 2025. (Douglas Hook / The Republican)Douglas Hook
University of Massachusetts Amherst
ENROLLMENT:31,726 undergraduate and graduate students as of fall 2024.
NEGOTIATION HIGHLIGHTS:Two unions at UMass Amherst have been negotiating their contracts for over a year. The Professional Staff Union Unit A has been pushing for 13 months and the New England Police Benevolent Association has been going back and forth with the university for 18 months to agree to increased wages.
DETAILS:Andrew Gorry is the co-chair of Professional Staff Union, which is made up of a Unit A — comprised mostly of members from UMass Amherst and UMass Boston — and a Unit B, which is made up of non-exempt supervising staff. Unit A has been negotiating its contracts since July of last year and working and being paid under previous agreements. The units represent a wide range of staff positions, Gorry said.
"It will be the end of bargaining when we reach a fair agreement, and when professional staff can be paid equitably with other staff workers. We are looking for better treatment," said Gorry. Unit B recently reached an agreement with the university.
The union's contracts are determined and approved by the governor, he said. "It's interesting, employees in the private sector can negotiate their salary with their employer but the public sector has financial limitations due to these 'parameters' agreed upon by the governor," said Gorry.
As part of the wage negotiations, Gorry said the union is trying to get a planned increase each year as part of a "step schedule."
The contract negotiations, ongoing for more than a year, will only reach the end of bargaining when both sides can agree on the terms, said Gorry.
The Professional Staff Union, frustrated by the lack of a new agreement with the university, will hold a rally this week to help settle their contract, following a similar rally of the University Staff Association last month.
This year, the university administration is offering a 0.5% increase in salary, but "it doesn't compare to what other units are getting," Gorry said. "We want to be treated the same so that we can afford to stay here. Our work should be recognized."
David Ortiz, president of the UMass Amherst chapter of the New England Benevolent Police Association, said it has been negotiating with the university for 18 months on its contract.
The university moved for a third-party mediator to help the negotiation process in July, he said. A major sticking point are body worn cameras, Ortiz said.
"We're not against the cameras themselves, they are a valuable tool," he said. "Their request for the implementation of body worn cameras is as though our behavior requires cameras."
In an email, Ortiz explained there has been a "low number of sustained complaints against (UMass Police Department) officers since November of 2022" and claims the department's administration wants to use camera footage to discipline employees.
"The university is holding state offered wages hostage over the (body-worn camera) issue despite looming University budget cuts due to federal funding cuts for research," he said in an email.
The university, he said, also wants to "secure additional language changes."
Emily Gest, a spokesperson for UMass Amherst, said in an email that the university has settled contracts with most of its unions over the past few months. Contracts are not related to federal funding changes, she said.
"The administration will continue to meet and bargain in good faith in accordance with all state and federal laws," UMass said in a statement, in response to questions from The Republican. "The university has met with the PSU bargaining team 29 times since June 2024 in an effort to reach a fair agreement. Since late 2023, the university has met with [police union] 22 times as well as two mediation sessions in an effort to reach a fair agreement."
Another mediation session with the police union is scheduled in September.
Damian Oquendo, 32BJ of the Service Employees International Union organizer holds the banner outside the Mount Holyoke College campus, Tuesday. He and others are rallying to demand fair union contracts before the expiration of the current agreements on June 30. (Douglas Hook / The Republican)Douglas Hook
Mount Holyoke College
ENROLLMENT: 2,178 undergrads, according to the college website .
NEGOTIATION HIGHLIGHTS:Unions representing food service and housekeeping staff both taking strike authorization votes this month.
DETAILS:Rich Sugrue, a cook at Mount Holyoke College, said a colleague who works with him in dining services regularly donates plasma to make extra money. Others have second jobs, he said.
Higher pay is a sticking point in contract negotiations for the union that represents Sugrue and those he works with.
Service Employees International Union 32BJ represents the union, which has two contracts at the college: one that covers about 70 custodians, tradespeople, and groundskeepers and another covering about 100 dining hall workers, said Kevin Brown, executive vice president of SEIU 32BJ.
The contracts expired at the end of June and were extended through July, Brown said.
Union members voted earlier this month to authorize a strike, meaning the bargaining committee can now decide to call a strike.
"After the strike vote there was some significant movement by the college but we're not there yet," Brown said of negotiations. "At this point a strike is likely," he said.
Sugrue, a member of the union's bargaining committee who has worked at the college for nine years, said wage increases are the primary concern for members. With pay increases in the past being percentage-based, he says the pay gap between people like dishwashers and cooks has grown too large. "The problem exacerbates and the disparities widen," he said.
They also want an employer-paid legal fund for free legal services. That would cover immigration legal services. One of Sugrue's coworkers has a green card, for example. "It's not necessarily an assurance you're safe … given recent news," he said. "To have this protection in place to have legal representation paid for in immigration cases would be not just a pleasant benefit to have but a lifesaving benefit for some members," he said
Union members have access to free legal consultation which is helpful but typically a phone call, Sugrue said.
The college said it's been negotiating since March. "We remain committed to reaching a fair and sustainable agreement," a spokesperson said in a statement. "We deeply value and recognize the contributions of all of our employees. We will continue to negotiate in good faith with Local 32BJ in the hope of reaching a resolution as quickly as possible."
Another union that represents about 25 housekeepers on campus is also negotiating with the college. "It's an overwhelmingly female workforce. And really what we've been focusing on is living wages," said Patrick Burke, president of United Auto Workers 2322.
The union has been negotiating since early this year, and until recently it's been slow, Burke said. This month, union members voted to authorize a strike, "which is simply saying they are voting to allow our bargaining committee to call for a strike if it's necessary," Burke said.
The college didn't immediately respond to follow up questions about negotiations with the housekeeping staff union.
The 140-member Service Employees Local 211 union at Smith College is in talks for a contract to replace one that expired this spring. (The Republican / file photo)(MassLive/Juliet Schulman-Hall)
Smith College
ENROLLMENT: 2,549 undergraduate students as of 2024.
NEGOTIATION HIGHLIGHTS: A new union for library workers bargaining for their first contract, and food service employees and housekeepers working under an expired contract
DETAILS: At the end of June, the contract for the union representing dining and house keeping staff expired. "We're currently in the middle of negotiations now," said Mitch Daniels, president of the union and a catering chef who has worked at the college for five years. The contract talks started in April, he said. "We are not satisfied with their offers."
The union, represented by Service Employees Local 211, has about 140 members, Daniels said. "We are a foundation of the school," he said.
The union has been offered some wage increases, but it's not enough, Daniels said. "Just living in the Pioneer Valley," he said, "It's expensive here. The closer you get to Northampton it gets outrageous." Members also want to see lower health care costs, Daniels said.
So far, Daniels hasn't seen much movement at the table, he said "I think they are deferring blame to the administration in Washington – the difficulty that is creating within their realm," he said.
"The College is confident fair agreements will be reached and remains committed to good-faith negotiations," a spokesperson said in an email about negotiations with both unions. "Out of respect for the formal bargaining process, the College will not provide further comment at this time."
In spring of 2024, library staff won their union election and formed the Smith College Libraries Workers Union.
"We've been bargaining ever since," said Xochitl Quiroz, a member of the bargaining committee. "We're at the point where we're feeling the fact that we've been bargaining for over a year." Compensation has been a main sticking point for the union's roughly 45 members, Quiroz said.
High turnover was one motivation for forming the union, said Quiroz, an engagement and humanities librarian who has worked at the college for about two years. Pay is another. "It's difficult to live, some of us, [on] the salary we get," she said.
Both unions are part of Smith Labor United, an informal collective of unions on campus.
"It's been very good to work together and create a coalition," Daniels said.
Read the original article on MassLive .
