GODDARD COLLEGE FACULTY VOTE FOR UNION
PLAINFIELD -- The faculty at Goddard College has voted overwhelmingly to form a union -- a decision announced with pride by Goddard's President Barbara Mossberg.
"We will emerge stronger, more innovative, more resource rich, and more exciting through our efforts to incorporate the union into our daily life," Mossberg said.
The faculty, both full-time and associate, voted 46-4 to become part of the Vermont branch of the National Education Association.
The staff voted against joining the union.
The organizing effort took three years and faced no opposition from the board of trustees. The board waived its legal right to prevent the union. Mossberg, when she became president in August 1997, endorsed the board's decision.
"I am proud to serve such a board of trustees, which hold deep commitments to democratic principles." Mossberg said.
Goddard College had a union from 1976 to 1980, but it disbanded when the college was restructured after almost closing.
Union officials said the issues that prompted a new organizing effort included job security, equitable pay and the desire to have a grievance procedure.
In a statement issued after the Tuesday vote, union officials pledged to develop "a collaborative relationship with the administration and board, one that will serve as a model of progressive employee relations in higher education as Goddard has served as a model of progressive educational practices."
