Pro-RA union forces press their case

by Daniel J. Fitzgibbons, Chronicle staff

Backers of the resident assistant union leave the Whitmore Administration Building Monday afternoon after marching through it as they continued efforts to win recognition from the administration. (Sarah Buchholz photo)

upporters of a resident assistant union continued their campaign for recognition on Monday with a rally and march through Whitmore and a bit of guerilla theatre on Wednesday. Unlike last week, when 35 pro-union protesters were arrested, this week's demonstrations went without incident.

     Around noon on Wednesday, about eight union supporters tried to stage a mock arrest of interim Chancellor Marcellette G. Williams at her office. Told that Williams was not in, the group left their "arrest warrant" with the receptionist and departed.

     About 100 backers of the RA union, including members of area labor organizations and campus unions, took part in Monday's rally, where the demonstrators set up a mock bargaining table outside Whitmore and invited campus administrators to join negotiations. The table was also in place on Tuesday.

     Several speakers urged the University to begin bargaining with the RAs, who voted March 5 to join United Auto Workers Local 2322, which also represents the Graduate Employee Organization. The election was conducted by the Massachusetts Labor Relations Commission.

     But University officials have declined to bargain with the RAs, saying it is the only way to force a court review of the MLRC ruling that resident assistants are employees entitled to unionize.

     In a statement issued Monday, Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs and Campus Life Javier Cevallos said, "The administration disagrees with the union position that the university is breaking the law by refusing to bargain. This is one point of view. We have another. State courts have consistently found that a certification is not a final order, which means it cannot be appealed until a subsequent unfair labor practice charge is heard by the MLRC and an order issued. It is unfortunate that case law did not permit a review by the courts prior to the election and that a refusal to bargain is the only way the University can challenge this ruling."

     The union has also criticized the administration for ordering the arrests of pro-union supporters after 14 of them staged a sit-in in Cevallos' office on April 29. Arraigned last week on charges including trespassing, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest, all 35 pleaded innocent. All of the cases were continued to May 30.

     According to the union, seven undergraduates arrested in the protest were suspended, but University officials agreed to defer disciplinary action until legal charges are resolved.

     Cevallos this week defended the actions, noting that the protesters were arrested for violating provisions of the campus Picketing Code.

     "After the arrests, the University followed standard disciplinary procedures and did not change or alter the process in any way due to complaints from the UAW, GEO, or lawyers for same."

     Meanwhile, interim Chancellor Williams was scheduled to meet Wednesday with a group of faculty and elected officials who endorsed a letter deploring the administration's refusal to bargain with the RAs. Among those who signed the letter are Congressman John Olver (D-Amherst), State Sen. Stan Rosenberg (D-Amherst), State Rep. Ellen Story (D-Amherst), State Rep. Steve Kulik (D-Worthington), Northampton Mayor Mary Clare Higgins, former U.S. Secretary of Labor Robert Reich, state AFL-CIO president Robert Haynes, a former UMass trustee, and current trustee Robert McCarthy, president of the Professional Firefighters of Massachusetts.