Over the next five years, nearly 600 clerical, technical and service employees on the Boston University Charles River Campus will receive annual raises under the terms of a new contract agreement with the International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America Local 2324.
Chris Snook, president of Local 2324, said the contract is a five-year deal, with an average payout of 3.15 percent a year. The union also negotiated a new parental leave policy, due to a state law that went into effect in July.
“We had language in our contract that said women could go on maternity leave for six months,” he said. “The new state law said that any parent would be able to do it for up to eight weeks. What we basically did was extend the six-month rule to all parents. We actually have better than the law for everyone.”
The contract also standardizes how the university does performance appraisals, so everyone is evaluated on the same level “no matter the department,” Snook said.
Additionally, workers now have a full sick day per month accrued, in accordance with a new Massachusetts state law that went into effect July 1.
Snook said that before the expiration of its previous contract on June 30, the union notified the university 60 days in advance to tell them of their plans to negotiate a new contract.
“We notified the university that we intended to negotiate and we set up meetings, we polled our members, previously had meetings and talked about what the priorities were,” he said. “That brought forth our ‘ask’ to the university.”
Thirty minutes before coming to an agreement, the university and UAW were “miles apart,” Snook said.
“We made a real strong pitch to why we needed what we needed and ultimately they caved and they gave it to us,” he said. “My final ‘ask’ … was very similar to what we received.”
Snook said the process was not easy due to the fact that the university was confrontational at times.
“Ultimately I think we were able to get an acceptable agreement,” he said.
BU’s Director of Labor Relations Judi Burgess declined to comment considering the sensitive nature of the issue.
The new contract will have the potential to greatly affect employees by embodying the “One BU” approach, named for a report submitted to President Brown in December 2006 which considers the needs of the university as a whole, BU spokesman Colin Riley said.
“The title of the report was ‘One BU’ [and] that was sort of the foundation to what became the president’s strategic plan, the phrase that’s used frequently when looking at things that the university wants to do or needs to do, in this case engaging and negotiating with a union,” Riley said.
Riley described the new UAW contract as “guidance” moving forward.
“It provides all the guiding language and milestones related to pay and benefits,” he said.
Snook said overall, the outcome of the negotiation is beneficial to him and the union workers.
“I am [satisfied] especially considering we’re dealing with a university that’s running more like a corporation than a college, and it’s very difficult to get anything with them,” Snook said, “so I’m very content with what we did here.”
J.D. Capelouto and Sekar Krisnauli contributed reporting.
