UMass Union Plans Rally and March to Protest Low Pay, Unfair Working Conditions, and Under-investment in the University.

Source: Professional Staff Union Amherst

The Professional Staff Union (PSU) at UMass will hold a rally and procession on Wednesday August 27 (move in day for freshmen), to protest low pay, unfair working conditions, and underinvestment in the university. The event is scheduled from noon to 1:30 p.m., beginning at the UMass Campus Center with a march to the intersection of Massachusetts and Commonwealth Avenues (see map).  All who care about labor justice and the future of the university are invited to show up to support this action. Those planning to attend the rally should be aware of move-in day traffic and parking advisories.

PSU has been bargaining for more than a year, with little progress to date. They are holding what they are calling their most important rally in recent memory to call public attention to the university’s intransigence and to highlight how disregard for university employees hurts UMass. The rally has been named Stand Up for UMass. 

Union leadership has described the need for this action as follows:

“In this unprecedented moment of assault upon higher education, now is the time for the University of Massachusetts Amherst to invest in the health and wellbeing of its entire campus community. And yet, for more than a year, UMass Amherst has dragged out bargaining a new contract with the 2,400 members of the Professional Staff Union (PSU), which represents staff members at both the Amherst and Boston campuses. 

“Too many of our members have to skip meals or have trouble paying for housing; too many face discipline biased by anti-LGBTQIA+, anti-BIPOC, and anti-disability views; our pay is far lower than that of comparable state employees, and the institution itself knows that it cannot attract enough staff to keep the university running smoothly in its mission of supporting the education, health and well-being of its students.”

PSU Amherst is a large, diverse union. Its members come from all over the world and all walks of life. Members span a wide range of pay grades, responsibilities, and work areas, from manual laborers to mid-level managers, graphic designers to statisticians. Some members have student-facing jobs, others work closely with upper-administration, and some don’t even work on campus at all. PSU Amherst sees economic justice and social justice as indivisible. From their preamble: “We, the professional staff and classified supervisors at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, are dedicated to supporting the dignity of the individual, the empowerment of workers, democracy, diversity, and the promotion of social justice.”

More information:  PSU Fact Sheet and Bargaining Update