{"id":169324,"date":"2026-03-20T15:50:07","date_gmt":"2026-03-20T15:50:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/169324\/"},"modified":"2026-03-20T15:50:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-20T15:50:07","slug":"u-s-reps-meng-and-meeks-join-st-johns-unions-call-to-return-to-the-bargaining-table-qns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/169324\/","title":{"rendered":"U.S. reps Meng and Meeks join St. John\u2019s unions\u2019 call to return to the bargaining table \u2013 QNS"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\"st.\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Queens Congressmembers Grace Meng and Gregory Meeks joined a growing coalition of protesters calling on St. John\u2019s University to reverse its decision not to recognize two unions representing the school\u2019s faculty in the midst of collective bargaining last month.<\/p>\n

Photo via SJU-AAUP<\/p>\n

Queens Congressmembers Grace Meng and Gregory Meeks urged the head of St. John\u2019s University<\/a> to reverse the school\u2019s decision not to recognize the unions that represent its faculty, joining a growing coalition of protesters advocating for SJU faculty.<\/p>\n

Yesterday, in a letter penned to St. John\u2019s President Rev. Brian Shanley, both Meng and Meeks called for the university to return to the bargaining table and engage in good-faith negotiations with its faculty to reach a fair contract.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis move by the SJU administration is deeply concerning and should not have happened,\u201d Meng said. \u201cIt is an attack on workers\u2019 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\u2019ll continue calling for this decision to be reversed.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m disappointed that SJU has chosen not to recognize the American Association of University Professors and the Faculty Association as bargaining representatives for university staff,\u201d Meeks said. \u201cEducators deserve a meaningful voice in the decisions that shape their classrooms and students. I hope SJU will reconsider their decision and engage in a constructive dialogue moving forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"The March 19 letter penned by Congressmembers Grace Meng and Gregory Meeks to St. John\u2019s president, Rev. Brian Shanley. Photo courtesy of the Office of Rep. Grace Meng<\/p>\n

St. John\u2019s decision was announced last month when the administration informed faculty that it would stop recognizing the two unions that represent university staff. The decision came as negotiations were underway for a new contract.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Pressure on the Queens-based school has continued to mount since Feb. 26, when students and faculty rallied in support<\/a> of the St. John\u2019s chapter of the American Association of University Professors<\/a> (SJU-AAUP) and its partner union, the Faculty Association (FA), which have been recognized by the university since 1970.<\/p>\n

Together, AAUP and FA represent over 1,100 full-time and part-time faculty members.\n<\/p>\n

On March 11, former City Comptroller Brad Lander joined students, faculty and representatives from other faculty unions and labor organizations to protest the university\u2019s decision<\/a>, as well.<\/p>\n

According to previous reporting by QNS, a spokesperson for St. John\u2019s said the university did not take the decision lightly, but it was necessary to advance St. John\u2019s \u201corganizational mission.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis will allow St. John\u2019s the flexibility required to innovate while continuing to support our faculty and, most importantly, deliver on our promise to our students,\u201d a university spokesperson said in a statement last month. \u201cAs 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

In an updated statement on March 11, a St. John\u2019s spokesperson claimed the university was working directly with its faculty and adopting a \u201cdirect-engagement model that is the standard for the overwhelming majority of universities nationwide.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, Christopher Denny, president of the St. John\u2019s FA chapter, called on St. John\u2019s President Shanley to uphold and honor the tradition of Catholic social teaching, just as the previous four presidents of the university had done.<\/p>\n

\u201cPresident Shanley cannot simultaneously claim to respect our educators while attempting to bust the St. John\u2019s unions,\u201d Denny said. \u201cAs St. Pope John Paul II wrote in his 1981 encyclical On Human Work, unions are \u2018a mouthpiece for the struggle for social justice, for the just rights of working people.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPresident Shanley walked away from bargaining with his faculty without warning and without respect for New York State labor law,\u201d added Sophie Bell, acting president of AAUP\u2019s SJU chapter. \u201cHe can return just as easily, and he should do so today.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Queens Congressmembers Grace Meng and Gregory Meeks joined a growing coalition of protesters calling on St. John\u2019s University…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":169325,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[54209,310,59070,61573,9,24,63,122,124,123,37671,69405,61575,12668,3555],"class_list":["post-169324","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-american-association-of-university-professors","tag-daily-newsletter","tag-fa","tag-faculty-association","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-queens","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news","tag-rep-grace-meng","tag-rep-gregory-meeks","tag-sju-aaup","tag-st-johns-university","tag-unions"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/169324","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=169324"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/169324\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/169325"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=169324"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=169324"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=169324"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}