Then And Now: A Compendium of Berklee Faculty Union Achievements
by Mike Scott
On Monday, April 22, 1986, I entered the teak paneled splendor of the Berklee President’s top floor suite. He and I signed the first Faculty Contract Agreement, ending a fourteen-day strike.
It had started two weeks earlier during a Sunday night caucus at a bargaining session. Nearly a year of negotiations had accomplished little more than determining the number and location of bulletin boards where the union could post notices. Faculty had authorized a strike the previous week; picket signs were ready, the phone tree poised to run. At 3:30 in the morning, for the second time that night, the union negotiating team urged me to “make the call.” This time I did.
Afterwards we exited management’s attorney’s chrome and smoked-glass offices, the tasteful indirect lighting unable to mask the worry on everyone’s faces, the federal mediator said, “I hope you know what you’re doing, lad.”
“Me too,” I replied, my prior union experience consisting of paying yearly dues to my AFM local.
I slept from 4:30 to 5:30. As I left at 6a.m., my wife kissed me softly on the lips. “For luck,” she said. Another worried face, though she tried to smile.
I rode the bus down a still-dark Mass. Ave. toward the Back Bay, mouth dry, stomach fluttering, mind racing. What if no one came? What if too few people came? If we didn’t pull this off, things would never change and all we’d worked for would be lost.
I stepped off the bus and into the Dunkin Donuts at the corner of Mass. Ave. and Haviland. The smell of brewing coffee filled the air, as did the sound of voices. Excited voices. Berklee faculty voices. Lots of them. And more coming in. They carried signs—Fair Pay for Fair Work. They wore signs—Treat Us with Respect and We’ll Respect You. They laughed; they shouted. They kept pouring in. When the Dunk was full to bursting, more faculty began to gather on the sidewalk outside. We took them coffee and together watched the morning light tease colors from the brick and concrete world around us. Just before everyone left for their picket stations, someone shouted, “We’re gonna do it! We’re really gonna do it!”
Yes we are, I thought. Then I hurried to an interview with a newscaster I’d only seen on TV. “Why is the Berklee faculty on strike?” he asked, not quite looking at me.
On the spot, I put together the sound bite that would be carried locally, regionally and even nationally that day: “The lowest faculty salaries in the state, more teaching hours than any college in the country, no job security, and a benefits package that has us praying we never get sick. Or have to retire. Shall I go on?” I asked.
By the end of the day, we’d walked the line one hundred and fifty strong, having garnered tremendous public sympathy and support. Thirteen days later, we had a contract. We’d risked our jobs, missed a couple of paychecks, and developed a sense of community the likes of which we’d never see again. We may not have gained complete control of our destiny that day, but we set its course.
In the ensuing years, here is how things changed:
THEN: Average full-time salary, $16,000; average hourly rate, $7.50
NOW: Average full-time salary, $91,000; average hourly rate $92.00.
THEN: Thirty teaching hours, fall and spring; an additional twenty required in summer.
NOW: Fourteen to eighteen hours, fall and spring; summer teaching not required.
THEN: One-year contracts; no dismissal standard or grievance procedure.
NOW: Three-to-five-year contracts; just cause standard for dismissal; grievance rights to outside arbitration.
THEN: Expect to retire at 60% salary, including social security benefit.
NOW: Expect to retire at 85% to 90% salary, including social security.
THEN: No ranks or promotion process.
NOW: Traditional academic ranks; established promotion process.
THEN: No opportunity to address individual compensation concerns.
NOW: All faculty may renegotiate compensation once every three years.
THEN: Part timers not paid for department meetings or office hours.
NOW: Part timers paid for department meetings and office hours.
THEN: No health or dental benefits for part timers.
NOW: 80% of part timers qualify for health and dental benefits.
THEN: No retirement plan for part timers.
NOW: 403b employer co-contribution for part timers.
THEN: As needed contracts with no guaranteed hours for part timers.
NOW: Three-year contracts with guaranteed hours for qualifying part timers.
THEN: No paid parental leave for anyone.
NOW: Paid parental leave for all full-time and part-time faculty.
The list goes on—tuition reimbursement, tuition reduction, recording grants, education grants, paid leaves, scheduling considerations, yearly conversions to full time for PTs—all available now; all unheard of in 1986. That’s what a strong union can do.
Berklee’s third president since 1986 took over last year. She is seldom seen, though in a rare appearance at a faculty department meeting recently she agreed there should be no inequities in our union contract. Thanks to management, there are a few since Berklee’s merger with Boston Conservatory. To date, she has taken no action to address this problem, though there is still time since the 2022 contract negotiations are not yet complete.
There is a new Provost, Berklee’s fourth since 1986. He favors a one-year contract and study groups for many of the union’s more problematical proposals. However, he has taken the lead in the current negotiations and seems responsive to some economic issues.
The union group has also turned over a few times since 1986. The current Executive Committee, led by President Will Silvio, is doing the bargaining now. They are committed to inflation sensitive wage increases, part time conversions to full time status, a professionally accepted weighting system, resolving glaring conservatory inequities forced in by management during the merger, improving faculty job security, a permanent ratio of 45% full time to 55% part time, and much more.
How will they fare bargaining with the new management team? To date, that team, as with previous management teams, dawdled and pontificated its way through the summer and then tried to cram a low-ball offer down the union’s throat a week before classes began. The more things change…
The fall semester began with no new contract. Faculty were so angry that, at a well-attended faculty meeting, strike talk swirled like leaves in an autumn gale. Shades of 1986? Maybe. But one thing is certain: if the gifted faculty at the college and conservatory continue to stand together and support their faculty union, the union team will not come away with a new, improved contract. No one enters Berklee to study with administrators. Without its faculty, Berklee has nothing.
(With a little help from his friends, Mike Scott founded the Berklee Faculty Union in 1985, served as its president for 26 years and was a member of the 2022 union bargaining team. He may be reached at mscott@berklee.edu)
N.B. The 2022 negotiations concluded in late October. The union team brought back the best contract agreement in the past fifteen years. Solidarity counts.
Mike Scott served as president of the Berklee Faculty Union from its recognition by the National Labor Relations Board in 1985 until his retirement from the position in 2011. He continues to teach at Berklee in the harmony department. He may be contacted at mscott@berklee.edu.