Dear Mercy College Adjunct Faculty,
Since my last email to you on October 8, I’ve received a copy of a communication from the SEIU negotiating committee that you also appear to have received earlier this week. I don’t participate in negotiation sessions with this committee. But some of the representations made by the committee in its letter to you were either distorted or outright incorrect. As valuable members of the Mercy community, you have a right to hear from me about those issues. That’s why I’m writing.
The subject-line of the negotiating committee’s email to you might have left you with the wrong impression: “Elected Leaders Stand with Mercy Adjuncts!” Yes, the committee provided form letters for various politicians to sign urging the College to bargain in good faith with SEIU. Nevertheless, the politicians were given distorted accounts of what has transpired between SEIU and the College. Accordingly, I communicated with each and every elected official to provide a more balanced summary of bargaining to date. It corrected some of the more egregious distortions made by the committee. Below are two of the communications we have shared with elected officials:
- New York State Senator Peter B. Harckham - August 6, 2021
- New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli - October 29, 2021
For example, no, the College is not anti-union. We’ve bargained successfully for more than twenty years and have a cordial relationship with UAW 2110 representing our non-management staff. And no—the College is not responsible for dragging out the bargaining process. We have never walked away from the bargaining table, as the union committee has. Since negotiations began, Mercy has exchanged proposals on over 30 issues and topics, many of which have been memorialized in written and signed appropriate tentative agreements. In addition to these agreements, the College continues to seek compromises on important remaining issues through mutual exchanges of revised counterproposals. These actions show we are committed to this process and reaching an initial contract. Contracts between colleges and unions just tend to take time. In addition, no—the College in no way dismisses or disrespects the important work of our adjunct faculty, contrary to the suggestion made by the SEIU bargaining committee, which apparently seeks only to inflame you against the College. The best evidence of Mercy’s good faith toward and its vital respect for your work is this: two years ago, when it was under no immediate obligation to do so, the College raised your basic pay scale by thirty-five percent, a result SEIU normally sees at the end of bargaining rather than before bargaining even commences. SEIU now wants to ignore these raises and impugn the good faith of the College’s efforts to negotiate final terms of our first contract together. I don’t believe this is reasonable.
And finally, yes—there is additional work to be done in reaching a final contract, which the College is fully prepared to do in good faith. So, I’m happy to report that SEIU has agreed to return to the negotiating table next week. This comes after it refused to provide any counterproposals to Mercy proposals during the meeting on May 3 (after which the SEIU walked out for the summer), and then ignored further counterproposals by Mercy on August 27. I’m optimistic, though, that the negotiation session next week is a step in the right direction.
In the meantime, I hope that our continued labor together on behalf of Mercy students has not been made unduly burdensome by the threat of COVID-19. It has been a stressful time in higher education, especially for our students. You, though, have been—and will continue to be—crucial and respected partners in the work of carrying out Mercy’s mission to students. I am privileged to serve with you on behalf of this mission.
Respectfully,
Tim Hall
President