Wellesley College non-tenured faculty members end strike amid continued contract negotiations
The Wellesley Organized Academic Workers (WOAW-UAW), the union representing Wellesley’s non-tenure track faculty, has agreed to end its strike, while continuing negotiations toward a final contract. The 300 non-tenured academics walked off the job on March 27. Their demands include maintaining a four-course workload for its members, and an increase in both salary and job security.
Striking faculty will return to classes on April 25.
“We are grateful to the WOAW-UAW’s bargaining team and members for coming to this decision. While the strike is ending, the critical work of negotiating a final contract that recognizes the significant contributions of our NTT faculty is continuing. Our next bargaining session is April 28,” College administration leaders said in a memo on the College’s unionization website.
For the past few weeks, union members and supporters that included tenured faculty and students held signs in front of Wellesley College’s pedestrian entrance at the corner of Central Street and Weston Road. The College maintained a visible police presence there, and at other entrances to the highly selective women’s college.
Union bargaining committee leadership in an update letter said, “As the semester comes to a close, we are ending our current strike and will return to the classroom tomorrow for the last week of class, with our strength established and our community stronger than ever. While we are returning to work, the fight is not over. We have yet to reach a final agreement, and we will not be worn down by Wellesley’s anti-worker tactics.”