Over 100 St. John’s University faculty members and students gathered on Friday to continue protests against the university’s decision to end recognition of the long-standing faculty union in February
The St John’s chapter of the American Association of University Professors and the Faculty Association recently filed an unfair labor practice charge against university leadership, accusing St, John’s President Rev. Brian Shanley, Provost Simon Møller, and the Board of Trustees of multiple violations of New York State labor law by ending union recognition on Feb. 19.
The unions had been officially certified by New York State as the faculty’s official bargaining representatives 56 years ago.
Faculty, students and allies gathered outside the university’s “Gate 1” on Utopia Parkway at noon on Friday to picket against the decision, stating that the recent protest had been planned to coincide with International Workers Day and the Catholic Feast Day of St. Joseph the Worker. Organizers said the May 1 rally was also set against the “backdrop” of the university’s Giving Day, which calls on faculty members to make charitable donations.
Attendees alleged that the request highlighted how the university is “out of touch” by asking faculty to make donations while their bargaining power is being “stripped away.”
Throughout Friday’s rally, disgruntled faculty members voiced their feelings about the decision, chanting slogans such as “union busting is unholy” and “shame on Shanley.” Protesters also encouraged passers-by to call Shanley from a makeshift phonebooth set up near the rally.
A makeshift phone booth at the protest. Photo via SJU-AAUP
Faculty members also stated that they have been working without a union contract for over 300 days, accusing St. John’s of stalling negotiations last year.
The unfair labor practice aleges that the St. John’s Board of Trustees has illegally targeted and threatened faculty union leaders, surveilled and recorded faculty participation in union-related activities, and bypassed the legally-recognized unions by assembling a working group to unilaterally alter terms and conditions of employment.
St. John’s University said it could not comment on Friday’s rally because the matter is the subject of ongoing litigation.
However, a spokesperson for St. John’s told QNS in February that the decision to end union recognition was necessary to advance the university’s “organizational mission.”
“This will allow St. John’s the flexibility required to innovate while continuing to support our faculty and, most importantly, deliver on our promise to our students,” a university spokesperson said in a statement.
The decision would allow St. John’s to remain “steadfastly” dedicated to its Catholic and Vincentian mission, the spokesperson added.
“As the landscape of higher education undergoes a profound transformation, our commitment to providing an exceptional and sustainable educational experience consistent with our mission requires us to be agile and innovative.”
In an updated statement on March 11, a St. John’s spokesperson said the university was working directly with its faculty and adopting a “direct-engagement model that is the standard for the overwhelming majority of universities nationwide.”
A spokesperson for the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities (ACCU) also said at the time that St. John’s reserves the right to invoke a religious exemption to union recognition.
“While ACCU does not take a position on unionization, the association respects the university’s choice, as a private, Catholic institution, to invoke its religious exemption,” the organization said in a statement in February.
The National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (NAICU) also expressed support for the university, arguing that faith-based institutions have the right to invoke a religious exemption.
Students and faculty have pushed against those statements.
At a rally held at the university in February, faculty and students said the move would lead to program elimination and “academic contraction,” with opponents claiming that the move will prevent faculty from having a voice in academic decisions at St. John’s.
“Instead of faculty governance, you have consultants telling the administration what they want to hear,” Robert Fanuzzi, an associate professor of English at St. John’s, told QNS in February.
Fanuzzi said the decision to withdraw union recognition would “reproduce groupthink,” which he described as a “really dangerous” position for a university.
“With faculty governance, you have a strong counterargument and public review that submits every program contraction proposal to the highest academic standards. It’s the way a higher education institution should do business.”
Meghan Clark, a professor of moral theology at the university, said the fight to restore union recognition centered on “dignity” and the faculty’s right to form a union.
“It’s not just about a question of wages, it’s about participation and about faculty voice and how we shape curriculum, and how we shape the education that we are providing to our students,” Clark said.
Queens Congressmembers Grace Meng and Gregory Meeks have since urged Shanley to reverse the school’s decision not to recognize the faculty unions.
In March, Meng and Meeks penned a joint letter to Shanley calling for the university to return to the bargaining table and engage in good-faith negotiations with its faculty to reach a fair contract.
“This move by the SJU administration is deeply concerning and should not have happened,” Meng said in March. “It is an attack on workers’ rights, and I stand with the unions during this challenging and unfortunate time. I continue to support their efforts to negotiate a fair contract and I’ll continue calling for this decision to be reversed.”
After completing Friday’s rally, St. John’s faculty traveled to Manhattan to join faculty from the New School as they rallied for the rights of residential workers as well pushing back against alleged downsizing and restructuring. The two groups then marched to Washington Square Park with dozens of other unions from sectors across the city as part of May Day, with the coalition calling for the recognition of labor rights, the protection of immigrant rights and for an end to ICE operations in New York City.
Sophie Bell, acting president of SJU-AAUP, at the Manhattan rally. Photo via SJP-AAUP
“As academic freedom and worker rights are being rolled back throughout Higher Ed and across the country, we are proud to stand with our allies in labor and immigration. Immigrant rights are human rights,” David Farley, an associate professor at St. John’s, said in a statement. “These are non-negotiable parts of our Vincentian tradition.”