GODDARD AGREES TO RECOGNIZE UNION
PLAINFIELD - Goddard College has agreed to recognize a
union representing faculty and support staff.
"If the workers decide they want to have a union, they should
have one," said Jane Sanders, chairwoman, of Goddard's board
of trustees.
A union organizer called the board's decision almost unprecedented.
"This is virtually unheard of in higher education these days.
This is amazing; this is very unique," said Ellen David Friedman
of the Vermont National Education Association.
The board's decision to recognize the union is unusual because of
a 1981 court case involving Yeshiva College in New York that says
private college and universities do not have to recognize labor unions.
Goddard could have easily prevented the union from forming by invoking
the Yeshiva decision, Sanders said, but chose not to in order to ease
tensions at the college.
The response from workers to the decision to recognize the union
has been positive, Friedman said.
"The employees are thrilled and amazed. They can't quite believe
it," she said.
Friedman is trying to reach an agreement with the college over
which employees would be eligible to join the union.
The college and Friedman are at odds over whether some employees
should be considered supervisors, which would make them ineligible
for the union. But Friedman said she believes the differences could
be worked out.
Sanders said Goddard was using the narrowest possible definition of
who is management to help speed the formation of the union.
"That means only the people who are involved in hiring, firing,
and supervising," she said. "We are trying to keep the fewest people out."
Both sides have agreed that some administrators and other employees
who have access to confidential information will be ineligible to
join the union.
Those eligible would include all full and part-time faculty and
possibly about 15 support staff, or about 76 to 80 employees, Friedman said.
Non-professional employees who perform housekeeping, clerical and
maintainence duties would be ineligible to join the union. Friedman
said that's because national labor laws require professional and
non-professional employees to belong to separate unions.
Goddard employees say they want to unionize to protect themselves
from the policies of college president Richard E. Greene.
Greene's critics claim he has violated the democratic principles
upon which Goddard was founded, and is slowly trying to "corporatize"
the progressive college.
The conflict intensified last month after Greene
fired 16 employees, including three members
of the union's organizing committee.
That led to a showdown with the trustees at
a meeting in June, when the board refused to ask for Greene's resignation.
Instead, the trustees promised to consider a proposal
to recognize the union and create a new administrative position to oversee
daily operations and "ensure a better climate on campus."
Sanders said she expected someone who currently works at Goddard will be
named to the new postion on an interim basis, possibly as early as this week.
The new position would allow Greene to spend more time fundraising and
doing long-term planning, Sanders said.
Meanwhile, Friedman said she planned to file an unfair labor practice
charge against Greene with the National Labor Relations Board.
Friedman claims Greene fired three Goddard employees - Manuel O'Neill,
Kiko Nobusawa and Mark Greenberg - because they were involved in union
activities.
"I believe these people were targeted specifically because of their
union activity," she said. "I feel pretty confident that we have a case
to bring."
Sanders denied the allegations. "I think our actions regarding union
activity at Goddard speak louder than any words."
