Dear Chancellor Newman,
We, the leaders of the UMass Boston campus unions, strongly object to both the disrespectful tone and message of the March 18 communication that you sent out to UMB staff and faculty and some graduate employees (see here). We’ve heard from many of our members who are likewise appalled by the tone and content of your email.
Not once do you recognize or express gratitude for the efforts and devotion that YOUR staff are showing during this unprecedented crisis. Not once do you express concern for the health and welfare of your employees. Instead you hastened to implement new onerous reporting procedures, and in doing so insulted our integrity and ethics. We have told you before how low morale is on this campus, and how we–the people who keep this whole institution running–feel disrespected and unheard. Your email yesterday only deepened and confirmed those feelings.
We think you should be aware and proud of how the entire UMB community has responded to this crisis. UMass Boston’s employees have worked extraordinarily hard to prepare our programs, departments, and the entire campus to weather this unprecedented storm. We have seen so many examples over the past weeks of how deeply UMass Boston staff and faculty care about and prioritize students, even at a cost to themselves. We have more than earned the trust that we will continue to do what we always do–serve the students, community and institution to the very best of our abilities.
Now is the time for you to show that you value us: prioritize our health, safety and security, rather than your productivity measures. Instruct your administration to actually bargain with our unions over how to address this national health emergency.
Chancellor Newman, we call on you to do the right thing.
In Solidarity,
Janelle Quarles, Classified Staff Union
Anneta Argyres, Professional Staff Union
Sarah Bartlett, Professional Staff Union
Warren Hinckle, Graduate Employee Organization
Chris Whynacht, Graduate Employee Organization
Graduate Employee Organization 