Father Leahy and the Boston College Administration,
A majority of research and teaching assistants voted yes to the union, Boston College Graduate Employee’s Union – UAW, in a fair and democratic process certified by the National Labor Relations Board. We now urge you as Boston College students and alumni to respect their choice and work with the grad workers and their union in good faith.
They join thousands of RAs and TAs who have voted for unionization since 2013, when NYU agreed to respect a democratic vote on unionization by its graduate employees. 33 democratically elected Grad Workers’ Unions have successfully negotiated contracts with their university administrations.
We are deeply disappointed that your administration has asked Trump NLRB appointees to reverse the very rights of graduate student workers to unionize. In doing so, you stand with the Trump Administration. Additionally, refusing to work with the union disrespects the history of Catholic social teachings advocating for workers and the right to bargain collectively. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops reaffirmed this in 2007, writing, “Catholic social teaching supports the right of workers to choose whether to organize, join a union, and bargain collectively, and to exercise these rights without reprisal … Workers, owners, employers, and unions should work together to create decent jobs, build a more just economy, and advance the common good.”
We urge you and the Boston College administration to honor Catholic social justice traditions, drop your appeal at the NLRB and commence good-faith negotiations for a fair contract.
Josh Behrens, MCAS ’18
Andrew Vaccaro, MCAS ’20
Matthew Barad, MCAS ’20
Sean Farley, ’20
Kai Jorgensen, MCAS ’21
Helen Haskin, MCAS ’21
Jack Demasi, MCAS ’21
Penny Hawthorne, MCAS ’20
Will Supple, MCAS ’20
Michael Quinn, MCAS ’19
Julia Perry, MCAS ’19
Fatoumata Sall, MCAS ’21
Ann Mahoney, MCAS ’19
Madison Boettner, MCAS ’19
Ethan Starr, MCAS ’21
Connor Kratz, MCAS ’18
Kelly Nguyen, MCAS ’21
Sara Valdez, MCAS ’18
Kayla Lawlor, MCAS ’20
Dan McCarthy, MCAS ’20
Solina Jean-Louis, MCAS ’18
Madison Hynes, MCAS ’18
Megan Kay, MCAS ’18
Ashley Puk, MCAS ’18
Jennifer Zheng, MCAS ’21
Victor Fisher, MCAS ’20
Eliza Manriquez, MCAS ’20
Grace Chung, MCAS ’18
Paola Sanchez, MCAS ’21
Harrison Tune, MCAS ’18
Joseph Kim, MCAS ’19
Katie Oh, LSOE ’19
Joely Centracchio, MCAS ’20
Krista Roze, MCAS ’20
Kelsey Dullea, MCAS ’18
Julia Barrett, MCAS ’19
Maura Donnelly, LSOE ’20
Alyssa Farnkoff, MCAS ’20
Sabel Flynn, CSON ’19
Elizabeth Madden, MCAS ’18
Prianka Bedi, MCAS ’18
Conor McCadden, MCAS ’18
Kayla Dowling, LSOE ’18
Renee Nichols, MCAS ’21
Elizabeth Spitzenberger, MCAS ’21
Aaron Salzman, MCAS ’20
Alumni:
Elliot Smith, MCAS ’14
Samantha Martin, MCAS ’17
Matthew Bland, MCAS ’07
Amber Ruther, CSOM ’17
Andrew Donnelly, MCAS ’10
Andrew Engber, MCAS ’15
Stephanie Saltzman, MCAS ’10
Jason Hazzard, LSOE ’10
Nicholas Bain, CSOM ’17
Michael Kolhede, MCAS ’12
Tyler Wilkinson, MCAS ’15
Alex Nicoll, MCAS ’15
Lucas Shin, MCAS ’12
Colleen O’Connor, MCAS ’10
Bennett Applegate, MCAS ’10
Jenna Zellmer, MCAS ’10
Meghan Gavin, MCAS ’10
John McLaren, MCAS ’10
Andrew Kunzweiler, MCAS ’10
Stephan Roundtree, MCAS ’10
Jennifer Applegate, CSOM ’10
Stephany Kunzweiler, MCAS ’10
Matthew Hearns, MCAS ’10
Catherine Curley, MCAS ’10
Joe Monahan, MCAS ’10
Clare Short, LSOE ’10
Michelle Glennon, MCAS ’10
Featured Image by Zoe Fanning / Heights Editor
