{"id":219827,"date":"2026-05-04T21:53:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-04T21:53:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/219827\/"},"modified":"2026-05-04T21:53:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T21:53:08","slug":"st-johns-faculty-rally-for-union-recognition-as-standoff-continues-qns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/219827\/","title":{"rendered":"St. John\u2019s faculty rally for union recognition as standoff continues \u2013 QNS"},"content":{"rendered":"

Over 100 St. John\u2019s University<\/a> faculty members and students gathered on Friday to continue protests against the university\u2019s decision to end recognition of the long-standing faculty union in February<\/p>\n

The St John\u2019s 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\u2019s President Rev. Brian Shanley, Provost Simon M\u00f8ller, and the Board of Trustees of multiple violations of New York State labor law by ending union recognition on Feb. 19.<\/p>\n

The unions had been officially certified by New York State as the faculty\u2019s official bargaining representatives 56 years ago.\n<\/p>\n

Faculty, students and allies gathered outside the university\u2019s \u201cGate 1\u201d 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 \u201cbackdrop\u201d of the university\u2019s Giving Day, which calls on faculty members to make charitable donations.<\/p>\n

Attendees alleged that the request highlighted how the university is \u201cout of touch\u201d by asking faculty to make donations while their bargaining power is being \u201cstripped away.\u201d<\/p>\n

Throughout Friday\u2019s rally, disgruntled faculty members voiced their feelings about the decision, chanting slogans such as \u201cunion busting is unholy\u201d and \u201cshame on Shanley.\u201d Protesters also encouraged passers-by to call Shanley from a makeshift phonebooth set up near the rally.<\/p>\n

\"AA makeshift phone booth at the protest. Photo via SJU-AAUP<\/p>\n

Faculty members also stated that they have been working without a union contract for over 300 days, accusing St. John\u2019s of stalling negotiations last year.<\/p>\n

The unfair labor practice aleges that the St. John\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

St. John\u2019s University said it could not comment on Friday\u2019s rally because the matter is the subject of ongoing litigation.\n<\/p>\n

However, a spokesperson for St. John\u2019s told QNS in February that the decision to end union recognition was necessary to advance the university\u2019s \u201corganizational mission.\u201d\n<\/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.<\/p>\n

The decision would allow St. John\u2019s to remain \u201csteadfastly\u201d dedicated to its Catholic and Vincentian mission, the spokesperson added.\n<\/p>\n

\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 said 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

A spokesperson for the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities (ACCU) also said at the time that St. John\u2019s reserves the right to invoke a religious exemption to union recognition.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile ACCU does not take a position on unionization, the association respects the university\u2019s choice, as a private, Catholic institution, to invoke its religious exemption,\u201d the organization said in a statement in February.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0National 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.<\/p>\n

Students and faculty have pushed against those statements.\n<\/p>\n

At a rally held at the university in February, faculty and students said the move would lead to program elimination and \u201cacademic contraction,\u201d with opponents claiming that the move will prevent faculty from having a voice in academic decisions at St. John\u2019s.<\/p>\n

\u201cInstead of faculty governance, you have consultants telling the administration what they want to hear,\u201d Robert Fanuzzi, an associate professor of English at St. John\u2019s, told QNS in February.<\/p>\n

Fanuzzi said the decision to withdraw union recognition would \u201creproduce groupthink,\u201d which he described as a \u201creally dangerous\u201d position for a university.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cWith faculty governance, you have a strong counterargument and public review that submits every program contraction proposal to the highest academic standards. It\u2019s the way a higher education institution should do business.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meghan Clark, a professor of moral theology at the university, said the fight to restore union recognition centered on \u201cdignity\u201d and the faculty\u2019s right to form a union.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not just about a question of wages, it\u2019s about participation and about faculty voice and how we shape curriculum, and how we shape the education that we are providing to our students,\u201d Clark said.<\/p>\n

Queens Congressmembers Grace Meng and Gregory Meeks have since urged Shanley to reverse the school\u2019s decision not to recognize the faculty unions.\n<\/p>\n

In March<\/a>, 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis move by the SJU administration is deeply concerning and should not have happened,\u201d Meng said in March. \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<\/p>\n

After completing Friday\u2019s rally, St. John\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

\"SophieSophie Bell, acting president of SJU-AAUP, at the Manhattan rally. Photo via SJP-AAUP<\/p>\n

\u201cAs 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,\u201d David Farley, an associate professor at St. John\u2019s, said in a statement. \u201cThese are non-negotiable parts of our Vincentian tradition.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Over 100 St. John\u2019s University faculty members and students gathered on Friday to continue protests against the university\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":219828,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[310,877,16660,9,24,63,6986,122,124,123,86578,61575,12668,86579,3555],"class_list":["post-219827","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-daily-newsletter","tag-grace-meng","tag-gregory-meeks","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-protest","tag-queens","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news","tag-rev-brian-j-shanley","tag-sju-aaup","tag-st-johns-university","tag-union-busting","tag-unions"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219827","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=219827"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219827\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/219828"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=219827"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=219827"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=219827"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}