FAQ

This vote is a standard procedural step that gives the union’s bargaining committee the authority to formally commence a strike at a future date. It does not mean a strike has been called at this time. Read the College’s message about WOAW’s call for a strike authorization vote.

A strike is an organized, collective work stoppage by a group of employees, usually with the goal of forcing the employer to accept the employees’ demands or in protest of an alleged unfair labor practice. A union might call a strike to pressure the employer to accept the union’s demands regarding wages, benefits, or other terms and conditions of employment. The striking employees might organize picket lines where they hold signs, march, and chant. 

College leaders are actively developing contingency plans to ensure the College is prepared to maintain academic programs and other operations, including campus safety, in the event of any strike-related disruptions. 

Strikes can vary in timing and length depending on whether progress is being made toward finalizing the collective bargaining agreement, what the union members authorize, and what the local union leaders elect to do. 

Yes. Each individual bargaining unit member has the right under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) to decide whether or not to engage in strike activity, and a member cannot be coerced by the union or by the employer to strike or not to strike. Striking members of the bargaining unit are exercising a right protected under the law, and the same is true for unit members who elect not to strike. 

All bargaining unit members who elect to strike will have their compensation withheld for the period they are on strike.

Because a strike involves withholding labor, employees who participate in protests or demonstrations while continuing to fulfill their work obligations are not formally on strike. 

Nonunionized, nonsupervisory staff have the same strike rights as WOAW-UAW bargaining unit members. They may strike, or not strike, without coercion or retaliation. If they elect to strike, however, their compensation will be withheld for the period they are on strike. In addition, if they engage in unlawful, unprotected strike activity, such as a partial withholding of their labor, they may be subject to disciplinary measures. Additional information from the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) regarding the right to strike, as well as lawful and unlawful strikes, can be found here.

Other Wellesley staff who are members of unions that have active collective bargaining agreements with no-strike clauses do not have the right to participate in a WOAW-UAW strike by not working. They are expected to be at work and fulfill their job responsibilities. 

Supervisory and managerial employees, which may include tenured and tenure track Wellesley faculty, are not protected employees under the NLRA and do not have a legal right to participate in any WOAW-UAW strike. 

No. Under the process initiated by the union, the College has carefully reviewed the role and responsibilities of BUEs and proposed reducing those responsibilities that lie outside of their primary role of teaching and advising. The College’s proposal streamlines service expectations so that lecturers and ISLs will continue to do first-year and major/minor advising and departmental service but will have no other contractual service obligations. Professional development will no longer be a separate evaluation criterion for reappointment, and the College and the union agree that there are no research expectations for BUEs. 

With no research expectations or the professional obligations that come with scholarship, and with fewer service responsibilities than tenured faculty, a five-course teaching load per academic year is reasonable for a full-time BUE position.  

The College’s proposal is consistent with the teaching load at the majority of peer institutions, where lecturers teach five to six courses per academic year. 

Reflecting this analysis and clarification, the College has proposed a five-course teaching load for all full-time BUE faculty, which is consistent with the current load for visiting lecturers. ISLs will be responsible for eight labs, instead of seven.

The College is realigning the BUE workload to focus on teaching and advising, so we expect the student experience to remain positive. The College’s proposal will strengthen the academic program by helping to address areas of unmet need and provide the flexibility the College needs to adapt our curriculum over time in response to changes in student interests and the composition of the tenure track faculty.

It’s important to know that many BUEs already teach five courses per academic year, or have in the past. All visiting lecturers teach five courses, and last year over 20% of other BUEs voluntarily took on additional courses.

The College’s current salary proposal is comprehensive and competitive to support our valued BUEs. It includes:

• Competitive wage increases: A total 6.3% wage increase in the salary line for bargaining unit members, which includes a 2.75% across-the-board increase for all unit members and additional increases to benefit BUEs at the lower end of the wage scale.

• Significantly higher starting salaries: An 11.5% increase in the minimum starting salaries of new lecturers/ISLs (to $72,000 for these 9-month roles) and a 5.4% increase for new visiting lecturers (to $68,000).

• Promotion increases: A $6,000 increase to base salary at promotion to senior lecturer/ISL, and a second promotion opportunity—to principal lecturer—which BUEs do not currently have and which would include another $6,000 added to base salary.

• Continued enhancements: Additional 2.75% across-the-board increases for each of the next three years of the contract.

These competitive wages are only one part of total compensation, which includes our current robust benefits package, representing an additional 35% cost on top of a BUE’s salary.

The union’s proposal would raise bargaining unit salaries by 84%. (This does not count its separate benefit proposals.) Though the College already offers strong wages, the union has proposed a salary range that would include $225,000 for lecturers with 18 or more years of experience, along with a starting salary of $90,000 for a new visiting lecturer or lecturer. These rates far exceed the rates for the same roles at peer organizations. The union has not been able to provide justification for a starting salary that is significantly higher than the average salary for lecturers, which is $83,000 according to data from the American Association of University Professors, and higher than starting salaries for tenure track faculty members. Further, at the bargaining table the union has yet to dispute that the College’s current wages are competitive.

The cost of this proposal would raise base salary and retirement benefits for BUEs by $10.4 Million, an increase of 84 percent. Other proposed benefit increases would cost an additional $4 Million.

For perspective, lecturers and ISLs currently have an average salary of $96,000, well above the average market salary of $83,000, as noted above. Under the College’s proposal, the average salary would rise to $102,000, which would increase as a result of promotions to principal lecturer. 

For additional information and context, please see our Key Issues page.

The College offers generous benefits to BUEs, which include eligibility for the faculty housing program at 70% of the market rate. BUEs who take advantage of this benefit are able to stay in faculty housing over the course of their time at Wellesley.

The mortgage program is made available only to tenured faculty in order to remain competitive with our peers to recruit and retain outstanding scholars who will remain with the College over the rest of their careers, and aligns with the long term nature of a 30-year mortgage.

Members of the bargaining unit have the same academic freedom policy that is currently in effect for all College faculty. That policy, which has been adopted by the College faculty, is based on the AAUP 1940 Statement. The union is arguing for a separate and different policy for Academic Freedom without advancing a rationale for a policy that is separate from  tenured faculty. 

The College believes it’s important to have consistency for all our faculty because having clear and consistent policies that apply to all employees supports transparency and helps ensure that our policies are legally compliant, applied consistently, and enforced fairly.  Read more about why the College shares the NTT faculty’s commitment to the principles of liberty and excellence in all academic pursuits.

Since February 2024, a group of Wellesley College’s non-tenure track (NTT) faculty has been represented by the United Auto Workers (UAW) under the name Wellesley Organized Academic Workers-UAW (WOAW-UAW). WOAW-UAW is now the exclusive representative for these faculty on all matters of wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment.

Wellesley began negotiating with WOAW-UAW in May 2024, and bargaining sessions continued throughout the summer. Discussions at the bargaining table have been thoughtful and productive, and we are pleased to have reached tentative agreement on several proposals already, including discipline and dismissal, severability, job postings, and the creation of a union-management committee.

Negotiating a first contract can take significant time, so it is difficult to estimate. First-time contracts often take more than a year of negotiations to complete. It is early in the process, but we are making good progress. The College is committed to negotiating in good faith until a contract is reached, regardless of how long that may take.

Both the union and the College will continue to share proposals related to a range of issues and will have the opportunity to suggest changes to each other’s proposals. A negotiation is a very dynamic process, and we expect a healthy exchange of views between the two parties. We are committed to keeping our community informed about our progress and sharing background on our approach to certain topics as we seek to balance the requests of the union with our responsibility to the College’s mission and to our entire community.

The WOAW-UAW bargaining unit has approximately 120 NTT faculty members. This includes Mellon postdocs, visiting lecturers, lecturers, senior lecturers, and instructors in science laboratory (ISLs). 

No. The parties agreed upon the composition of the bargaining unit in December 2023. Based on an agreement between the College and the union, a number of NTT faculty are not included in the bargaining unit due to their supervisory responsibilities or administrative appointments, or for other reasons.

Wellesley is committed to bargaining with the union in good faith to reach a fair agreement that reflects the importance of the role the NTT faculty in the bargaining unit play at the College while taking into account the needs of our broader community. We respect the collective bargaining process and are committed to engaging in negotiations in a thoughtful manner.

We recognize that NTT faculty play a vital and distinct role in supporting our academic mission. As part of negotiations, we share the union’s goal of further defining the role of bargaining unit employees (BUEs) at Wellesley to clarify expectations and responsibilities and support their work.

No. Both the College and the union agreed to a closed negotiation process. The College is committed to keeping the Wellesley community informed throughout this process and will be sharing regular updates on our progress. 

The recent discussion at Academic Council around degree requirements was conducted under the expectation of staffing neutrality to make clear that any proposed new requirements that would require additional staffing would need to be paired with other changes that reduced staffing needs. In general, the number of NTT faculty members at the College is expected to fluctuate year-to-year according to the College's current staffing needs.

No. The College last proposed that any claimed violation of the College’s policies related to non-discrimination, harassment, and retaliation first be investigated through the College’s internal procedures and then, if the faculty member was not satisfied with the outcome, the faculty member could file a grievance in accordance with any Grievance and Arbitration article in the contract. The parties have not yet reached tentative agreement as to any Non-Discrimination article in the contract. 

Learn more.

Yes. As explained in Key Issues, the College has robust non-discrimination and sexual misconduct policies and procedures for addressing complaints of discrimination, harassment and retaliation that apply equally to all community members, including all faculty regardless of their tenure status. 

WOAW-UAW has proposed creating a separate and different set of discrimination and harassment policies and grievance procedures that would apply only to members of the bargaining unit. The College last proposed that any claimed violation of the College’s policies first be addressed through the College’s internal procedures and then, if the bargaining unit member was not satisfied with the outcome, the union could file a grievance in accordance with any Grievance and Arbitration article in the contract.The College believes that it is important to have consistent policies that apply to all members of the community to ensure transparency, fairness and consistent processes and enforcement.

On Oct. 8, 2024, the union presented a proposal at the bargaining table for BUEs to be eligible to apply to participate in these new initiatives. After discussion, the College and the Union agreed to a memorandum of understanding, which states the following: “Bargaining Unit Employees shall be eligible to apply for full participation in the Albright Faculty Affiliates Program and the Hillary Rodham Clinton Center Faculty Research Initiative. Bargaining Unit Employees shall be included on all College-wide communications about all Wagner Centers Initiatives.This eligibility is only for academic years 2024-2025 and 2025-2026. This shall not be a precedent for other College initiatives in the future.”

NTT faculty are an integral part of our academic program, and we value their work and contributions in ensuring Wellesley College remains the top women’s college in the world. 

That said, the roles and responsibilities of Wellesley’s NTT faculty are distinct from those of tenure-eligible faculty. In addition to their teaching responsibilities, tenure-eligible faculty have demanding research responsibilities outside the classroom and produce scholarship related to their fields of study. Research is not an expectation or a responsibility of NTT faculty, as their focus is teaching. Their service responsibilities are also considerably less than those of tenure-eligible faculty. 

In our newly unionized environment, these roles and responsibilities will be comprehensively defined under an eventual contract. We view this process as an opportunity to bring greater clarity and structure to the role of NTT faculty in the bargaining unit and ultimately to support them and our entire faculty at Wellesley.

For the last fiscal year (2023–2024), the average compensation for full-time lecturers and ISLs was $92,995, alongside strong benefits including health insurance, retirement benefits, and professional development funds, and, subject to availability, access to faculty housing at below-market rates. This average figure reflects the full-time load of four courses per academic year for lecturers, senior lecturers, ISLs, and senior ISLs at Wellesley, and the full-time load of five courses per academic year for visiting lecturers, as well as amounts some faculty members may elect to earn for teaching overloads, Wintersession or summer courses, or other stipended work.

Well before the unionization and bargaining processes were initiated, the College had recognized the need to regularize and enhance certain elements of our compensation and benefit offerings for NTT faculty, and took definitive steps to address the issue and ensure a fair compensation and benefits package.

• In July 2020, to address a salary gap between longer-term and newer NTT faculty, the College granted a 9% raise to faculty on term appointments who had been hired in 2008 or later and to instructors in science laboratories hired in 2007 or later. These raises took effect during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, when virtually all other salaries at the College were frozen. 

• In July 2022, over 70% of NTT faculty received raises of 7.5% to 10% when other faculty (except those receiving a promotion or merit review) and all administrative staff received a 5% increase.

• Taken together, these steps have effectively addressed the disparity between faculty hired before 2008 and after.

Nearly three-quarters of the bargaining unit (81 individuals, or 74%) are serving on multiyear, renewable contracts as ISLs, senior ISLs, lecturers, and senior lecturers.  

Of these 81 faculty members, 89% (72) have taught at the College for at least five years; 58% (47) have taught here for at least 10 years, and nearly 40% (32) have taught here for at least 15 years.

Since February 2024, a group of Wellesley College’s non-tenure track (NTT) faculty has been represented by the United Auto Workers (UAW) under the name Wellesley Organized Academic Workers-UAW (WOAW-UAW). WOAW-UAW is now the exclusive representative for these faculty on all matters of wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment.