Recently, Tufts created a job posting for a labor relations specialist who would serve as an expert intermediary between the university and its employees regarding labor disputes and union-related issues, including attending contract negotiations and ensuring consistent labor relations leadership across the university.
The job description states that the goals of the position are to “foster positive workplace practices and reduce the risk of additional unionization efforts,” as well as to “develop and implement a long-term labor relations strategy that promotes a stable, constructive, and positive work environment for all employees.”
The position was announced amid ongoing contract negotiations between the university and various unions, including the professors of the practice at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, who have been negotiating for 20 months and are yet to reach an agreement. Additionally, the contract that the United Labor of Tufts Resident Assistants negotiated in 2023 will soon be up for renegotiation as it approaches the end of its three-year term in August.
“While the position will help respond to grievances, negotiations and ongoing matters, it is equally focused on proactive work—building strong partnerships, enhancing communication, supporting campus leaders, and reinforcing a constructive labor environment,” Ahsan Ali, senior director of labor relations, wrote in a statement to the Daily.
Ali added that the university will continue to comply with the obligations of the National Labor Relations Act and strive to work constructively with unions.
“The university respects employees’ right to organize and bargain collectively, and it looks forward to continuing to foster strong relationships with its unionized employees,” Ali wrote.
Penn Loh, a teaching professor in the Department of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning, said that while there may be disagreements, Tufts has always been willing to negotiate with unions. However, he voiced concern that this new position might signal a change in attitude from the administration.
“My biggest concern is that the administration might be spending more precious resources on suppressing our right to organize than on actually improving working conditions and the learning environment for our students,” Loh said.
ULTRA was expected to meet with the administration on Jan. 23, before the meeting was postponed by the university indefinitely. Tufts has yet to confirm if the resident assistant position will still exist in its current form next year and, if it does, what the contract will look like, including whether RAs would still get a stipend and free housing.
Mars Horigan, the shop-steward for ULTRA, felt the timing of the job posting and the meeting postponement was done with malicious intent.
“It just makes me feel like they’re cheap,” Horigan said. “[Tufts is] penny pinching, and they don’t care who it impacts.”
Andrew Menjin, vice president of ULTRA and a third-year RA, emphasized that Residential Life and Learning doesn’t “have it out” for the unions, but he said that the office “[isn’t] always mindful on how to engage with unions.” Additionally, he has noticed resistance to unions by the university over the years.
“What Tufts seems willing to do, nine times out of 10, is go for non-unionized work. They don’t want to work with unions. They don’t want unions within their university,” Menjin said.
Menjin outlined the lengthy negotiations by ULTRA throughout his years as an RA, especially the calls for appropriate compensation for their work.
“[Tufts] finally agreed to give us pay, and that was only after we went on strike, one of the first RA strikes in the country,” Menjin said.
Menjin also discussed the lack of understanding on the part of Residential Life staff about how union bargaining works. “When you have a union contract, that is the legally binding agreement between the employer and the laborer; it has to be honored,” Menjin said. “You can’t just change it without consulting the other side.”
Though Menjin was not previously aware of the job posting, he expressed concern about the impact of the position. “Hiring people for this position in which they actively seek to decrease union activity is just a reflection on this broader policy of anti-union agenda,” Menjin said.
