On Jan. 23, the Brandeis Library Workers Union, braving the winter cold, held a demonstration outside of Goldfarb Library at 3 p.m. Attendants of the rally included librarians, other staff members, concerned students and members of other unions on campus. Demonstrators held signs with messages such as “We can’t cut our way to excellence,” “Respect our work / retain staff” and “fair pay = staff.” The rally comes after seven months of negotiations with the administration, with limited success.  

Members of other campus and Boston area unions attended the rally showing support to the Brandeis library workers. One math PhD student, who’s a union member of SEIU Local 509, expresses that they’re “very happy to be a member of one of the unions on campus,” as it provides them “power in a way that [they] do not have otherwise.” Lennie Donohoe, a SEIU 32BJ member for over 20 years and plumber at Brandeis, expressed the facilities union’s commitment to supporting the library workers, calling out the prolonged contract negotiations. Donohoe said, “Facilities are here to support the librarians. It's been too long for you guys to not get your contract,” thus emphasizing that the old contracts, which expired June 31, 2024, have been expanded since July. From Boston, a leader of Massachusetts College of Art and Design Local 26, which represents food service workers at MassArt, said “We here today to demonstrate you guys that we are with you and that will support you in this fight. Until we win, we will be here.” 

In the audience was Thomas McKeever, president of SEIU Local 888, who recognized the library workers’ “pioneering effort in bringing organizing rights to Brandeis University.” He emphasized the union’s efforts to produce universal contract language and “will give [the union] every resource of the Local.” 

Last to speak was Alexis Cooper, a two time Brandeis graduate and current staff member. 

Cooper pointed out that the Union was entering their seventh month of contract negotiations with the University. According to her, when the Library Workers Union brings up pertinent issues, they are often sidelined and delayed by the administration.

“Year after year, library workers have asked and proposed different ways to build a structure that rewards employees for years of experience and that keeps experienced employees in their job,” Cooper said. She continued, adding “Year after year, we've been told by the university that ‘now isn't a good time.’ ‘We're facing hard times.’ ‘The university is already working towards a solution.’ Frankly, if we wait for a good time, we'll be waiting forever.”

As a bargaining member, Cooper and her fellow union members ask the University to work with them. “Stop Ignoring our attempts to find a solution for a problem that you create,” Cooper said. During her call for collaboration, she requested that Interim President Arthur Levine ’70 and the Board of Trustees “commit now to addressing this deferred maintenance and for the University to come to the bargaining table, ready to work on building a salary structure that keeps experienced employees in their job and reward them fairly overtime.”

One of The Union’s main objectives, in addition to fair pay for library staff, is to fundamentally change how staff are paid such that seniority is rewarded and turnovers are minimized. In a post-rally interview with The Justice on Jan 23, SEIU Local 888 member Thomas Valicenti commented that the salary of a staff member who has been at Brandeis for nearly 30 years had fallen below the minimum range set by the University. In Valicenti’s words, “[a current library employee] has 27 years of experience serving this university and if she left and they hired someone off the street tomorrow, they would be making the same amount of money.” 

One of the Union’s goals is to change the fundamental framework of the payment structure such that situations like these do not occur. “Good workers who have been here for a long time who have lots of institutional knowledge and experience and skills that they bring to the table … we’re fighting to get [the University] to recognize the value in that,” Valicenti commented. He, along with the rest of the Union, hopes to implement seniority increases every five years that correspond to the cost of living in the surrounding area. 

Valicenti also pointed out that the costs involved in excess turnover are hurting the University. “Hiring, training, all that costs the University money,” he commented. “We feel really strongly that it’s better for the university, it’s better for the staff, it’s better for everyone to have a new kind of system that will have benchmarks to reward people’s longevity and their skills and experience.” 

After the final speech had concluded, the members of the rally marched from Goldfarb to the Bernstein-Marcus Administration Center to hand-deliver a petition packet detailing their needs to Interim President Arthur Levine ’70. While marching, they utilized several call and response chants, such as “We are not interchangeable / we are indispensable,” “show me what community looks like / this is what community looks like” and “union / power.” 

At 3:20 p.m., seven union members went inside the Bernstein-Marcus Administration center to hand-deliver a petition packet to Executive Vice President of  Finance and Administration Stewart Uretsky, who would deliver the packet to the Interim President, according to the deliveries. The petition packet, which had over 300 signatures, detailed their needs as a department. 

“We’re trying to get something different in place … we’re coming to the University and asking them to partner with us to make structure … instead of doing the same old dance every three years,” Valicenti stated. 

The Union’s current contract extension goes through the month of February. According to Valicenti, the Library Union is set to meet with the administration for another bargaining session at the end of January. He hopes that they will have taken their needs from the petition into consideration and work with the Union to develop a new framework that is better tailored to the financial needs of the librarians. So far, as he explains, the University has fulfilled many of the non-financial concerns the Union has expressed, but none relating to pay. He emphasizes an understanding that Brandeis is in a tight position financially and communicates that the Union might be willing to put off pay increases in consideration for this situation, as long as their structure is adopted.