Bard College employees voted to authorize a strike earlier this summer, but they’ve resolved their differences with the private institution and signed a new contract.
The strike had been authorized by workers on Bard’s Buildings and Grounds and Environmental Services teams. Both groups are represented by SEIU Local 200 United.
The main sticking point in the negotiations was healthcare. Bard has historically covered 100% of the cost for individual employee plans, but had been insisting on requiring employee contributions as part of the next contract.
Union organizer Sean Collins says that demand was a red line for union members.
"If this doesn’t drop off, we’re going to have to schedule a day to take strike action," Collins said. "And they did finally relent on that, and that helped sort of break up the rest of the log jam."
Bard ended up agreeing to continue covering the full cost of individual plans, and also granted significant hourly raises in the starting salary for Environmental Services workers, who will now earn $22.60 per hour in base pay.
The union did have to make some sacrifices. They’d asked the college to expand hiring on the Buildings and Grounds crew, but weren’t able to secure that as an agreement.
"I think we leave the table feeling like the job’s unfinished," Collins said. "It’s something we’re unsatisfied with. We know it negatively impacts our students."
In an emailed statement, a Bard spokesman said, “The College is pleased with this positive outcome of thoughtful and productive negotiations. These agreements reflect our ongoing commitment to our employees and are comparable with employees who do similar work at other colleges.”
