Union members silently walked out during the convocation ceremony Thursday, just as Chancellor Marcelo Suarez-Orozco began his speech.
Among the protestors were members of the Graduate Employee Organization, the Classified Staff Union, the Professional Staff Union and the Faculty Staff Union, as well as other community members.
Protestors entered the ceremony before it began and stood along the back of the ballroom holding signs that read, “A Living Wage For the Times,” and “UMass Unions: United to Protect Our Rights.”
Michelle Browning, a member of the Faculty Staff Union and the Psychology department, expressed her frustration with how the university’s management has been handling contract negotiations.
Browning said that during meetings, administration “has not put forward any proposals, and has obstructed us every step of the way.”
Amanda Achin, an administrative assistant and the secretary of the Classified Staff Union, also expressed her discouragement with management. Achin said that the unions want a “demanding, democratic bargaining process” and claims management is “trying to restrict that process”.
“Many of us have been priced out of the city — we cannot afford to live where we work. We’re demanding that UMass Boston pay its workers a fair wage so that we can stay in our communities,” she said.
Achin also joined fellow protestors in wearing a keffiyeh, a traditional piece of Palestinian clothing to the demonstration. According to their Instagram, UMass Boston’s Student for Justice in Palestine movement organized a movement on the same day to wear a keffiyeh for the national day of action. Union protestors wearing these also signified their solidarity with the Palestinian movement.
Another Faculty Staff Union member, Maria Carvajal, who works in the English department, highlighted the movement’s motto, “Bargain openly, bargain transparently, and bargain now!” reiterating the demand for UMass Boston administration to hear the union workers out to negotiate contracts.
