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Editorial: Contract compromise vital to community

By Gaveliers, The Gavel Media Team, on December 7, 2009 5:44 PM

Another month of intense negotiations between the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and the administration brought much of the same, and yet another month-long contract extension. After over six months of deliberations, the two sides are no closer to resolving the campus labor dispute.

The primary reason for contention between the two sides is financial. Boston College, like many of the world’s educational institutions, is facing a budget crisis. In order to be more cost-effective, the administration wishes to bring in outside contractors for special events such as cleaning Alumni Stadium before and after games to reduce their reliance on overtime.

The University should be commended for making efforts to become more financially sound by looking at ways to save. Article 18 of the union’s contract, however, which prohibits the use of outside workers, was created for a reason. The use of contracted workers undermines the work of the union. It is not necessarily that the union fears the use of contracted workers for certain tasks — according to a union worker close to the situation, BC already uses contracted help.

Their fear is rather that the use of contracted workers will spread to other fields — replacing union workers — some of whom have been at BC for over 30 years. The union believes that without Article 18, they will cease to exist, as subcontractors will be used for nearly every job on campus.

Notwithstanding, the union has shown a willingness to compromise. In their last contract proposal, the union offered to remove Article 16, 4C, which spells out their “double time” privilege — a right to double the amount of their normal pay on the seventh day of their work week. The union also supports the use of “split workers” and BC students, which helps the University avoid paying overtime. The union should be commended for taking steps to find a compromise — steps the administration seems unwilling to make.

The importance of the union to the BC community can not be denied. Job security is essential to the well being of workers, and we implore the administration to resolve this issue soon, and in a manner that will maintain a cohesive community.

The SEIU seems to understand that financial cutbacks are needed in this type of economic environment, and they have shown a willingness to make compromises. The administration needs to follow suit — although at this point, it seems they are only interested in removing Article 18. A protracted labor dispute helps no one, and only further strains relationships. Both the union and the BC administration need to find common ground in order to sustain the well-being of the BC community.