Boston College students, faculty, and staff gathered Monday with members of Local 615 Services Employees International Union in support of the worker's contract. "We want to thank the students for showing so much support for us," said Marcus Johnson, an SEIU member and employee of BC. "Sometimes we feel as though we're alone in our struggle with BC."
Johnson was joined by Judy Rothschild, a professor in the Connell School of Nursing, Kathleen Sellers, STM '14, and Andrew Zuba, a representative of the Massachusetts Interfaith Committee for Social Justice. They spoke about the ongoing dispute between the union and BC over the worker's contract. Of particular contention is Article 18, which prohibits the University from bringing in outside sub-contractors to take on large-scale overtime projects. Though BC has said that they would hire only union workers if the article were scrapped, Johnson said that such action would open a dangerous loophole. "Without Article 18, BC would have the right to outsource our work to non-union workers," he said.
Johnson said that BC must resolve its labor issues fairly in order to be true to its Jesuit-Catholic heritage. "As a Christian, I believe we should all be socially just with one another, and this campus is basically a Christian campus," he said. "I have heard so many stories from old-timers who said, 'Man, it's great to work, to be at BC.' But now the attitude has changed."
He thanked the students for their support. "We stand united here today in the hopes that Articles 18 will remain in place, and the support from you has been tremendous," Johnson said.
Zuba agreed with Johnson that BC's Catholic priorities should be a deciding factor in how the University resolves the labor dispute. "We're here tonight to speak truth to power," he said. "We all recognize that BC is an awesome social force with the power to change the world." He said that BC's ambitions as expressed in the Institutional Master Plan to become the foremost Catholic university in the country are admirable, but that the "Catholic" part of the school's identity should not be lost in the process. "What would profit BC to gain the whole world and lose its soul?" he said. "How committed are you to being a Catholic university?"
Rothschild said that she was very happy to see a positive student turnout. She said that she had experience protesting as a nurse against wage freezes. She wore an SEIU hat to support the workers. "It is with my brothers and sisters at SEIU that I wear this hat tonight," she said. There are ways to deal with problems of overtime pay, she said. "We have to deal with problems of overtime all the time in hospitals," she said. "The way I look at it, we're at an impasse and somebody has got to be creative and push this ball up the hill."
Sellers, who has been organizing student efforts on behalf of the workers, said that her advocacy has been inspired by her father. "Throughout my life, his job has become less of a career and more of a job," she said. "He has the worst manager he's ever had, and he's forced to work overtime that he's not paid for. If they were unionized, maybe they would have a difference choice."
The panelists encouraged the students to stay involved. Rothschild said that, in the history of union disputes at colleges and universities, it has often been the student body that has tipped the balance.
"Treat us with justice, treat us fair, keep us employed, and thank you for listening," Johnson said.
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