Bates Alumni, SEIU Local 509 Members Demonstrate in Support of Bates College Workers at Luxury Boston Ballroom Event

Wednesday evening, Bates College alumni and members of SEIU Local 509 demonstrated in support of Bates College workers as administrators held a “special event in celebration of the success of The Bates Campaign” at State Room, a venue described as “possibly the largest truly luxury event space in Boston.” College leadership celebrated a massive $345.7 million fundraising haul. With signs and stickers reading “We Back Bates Workers,” Alumni and local union members demonstrated to call into question Bates’s financial priorities, and bring attention to a nearly year-long campaign of anti-union activity by the College Administration.

Bates employees cast their ballots to form the Bates Educators and Staff Organization (BESO) in a December 2021 union election, after announcing their intention to unionize last October. Those ballots, however, are currently impounded at the National Labor Relations Board due to a ‘Request for Review’ filed by the College, which argues that adjunct faculty and staff should not be allowed to form a union together. Nearly ten months later, workers are frustrated by the College’s ongoing attempts to slow their progress, but are determined to outlast the legal challenges. 

“While there's definitely frustration with the college administration, there's also growing support for our union among workers in response to the tactics used against us, said Aster Richardson, a purchasing manager in Bates’ IT Department, “We won't be divided and we won't be discouraged!”

Bates alumni are also frustrated that college resources are being spent on expensive anti-union law firms and consultants, and are not being used to support campus workers, who only saw a 3 percent cost of living pay increase this year, despite record-breaking fundraising totals and rampant inflation. 

“The fact that Bates is using all of this money to rent luxury ballrooms and pay for expensive lawyers is, to me, unacceptable,” said Owen Schmidt, Bates Class of 2021, “The College should drop their appeals, pay workers fairly, and commit to sitting down at the bargaining table with BESO.”

Members of SEIU Local 509 also turned out to support Bates workers and offer encouragement. “I’ve seen similar tactics from our university, they drag their feet at every possible turn,” said William Marx, Adjunct Professor at Boston University School of Journalism and SEIU Local 509 shop steward, “But we were able to overcome the stalling by pressing as hard as we could... My message to Bates workers right now is to hang together, fight together, and keep pushing the College to do the right thing.”