SEIU workers win no-layoff guarantee at Boston College

BC custodians on Hat Day, wearing caps that say, "Boston College works because we do."

After nine rocky months of negotiations, Local 615 members at Boston College voted six to one on February 17 to approve a new six-year contract that will give most of the 270 facility workers a no-layoff guarantee that is rare in any industry. While the agreement allows BC to contract out work to reduce overtime, the union will have opportunity to review and discuss beforehand the University’s proposals to contract out. The contract prohibits BC from replacing in-house jobs with outside contractors. Current employees (hired by January 31, 2010) are protected against layoffs for the life of the contract. New hires will have protections too:  layoffs must be by seniority, with eight weeks’ notice and rehire rights. The union also won raises totaling 4 percent by June 2010, with future raises to be negotiated.

The facility workers fought a long battle for a fair contract. Last April, BC announced demands to increase its use of outside contractors, part timers, and temporary employees, saying these steps were necessary to trim costs given the economic downturn. But workers knew BC’s demands were a potential threat to their jobs and their union. On January 26, they voted to reject BC’s “last and best” offer and demand a return to the bargaining table. Their unity signaled to BC that it would need to compromise.

The contract fight made new allies for the union, on campus and beyond. Students formed a worker solidarity committee and collected 1,300 signatures on a petition to BC President Rev. William Leahy. Faculty spoke out in favor of the union. Numerous state legislators, Boston city councilors, and labor leaders, including several BC alumni, pledged their support. Finally, on February 11—the day after BC’s student government passed a resolution supporting the facility workers—BC adopted a more flexible bargaining posture, and a settlement was reached.

“We couldn’t have done this alone,” said bargaining team member and grounds department worker Barry Bennett. “The faculty, students, and alumni stood right there with us. They helped us remind BC that this university was built by union workers and has a mission to serve this community. We won’t forget their help. We’ll keep working with them to make sure BC lives up to the values it was built on.”