To: Wellesley College Faculty and Staff
From: Andy Shennan, Provost and Lia Gelin Poorvu ’56 Dean of the College, and Carolyn Slaboden, Chief Human Resources Officer
Re: Update on union petition process
Date: December 13, 2023
Yesterday, the College filed its statement of position (SOP) with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) for the proposed Wellesley Organized Academic Workers-United Auto Workers (WOAW-UAW) union. The College’s SOP sets forth a proposed revised bargaining unit description that we believe more closely adheres to an appropriate community of interest for collective bargaining.
The filing of the SOP is an important and necessary step in the unionization process initiated by the WOAW-UAW. The College and WOAW-UAW will work together with the NLRB to try to reach an agreement on the bargaining unit description. If we cannot reach an agreement, the NLRB regional director will conduct a hearing on December 21 to determine the unit description. After that determination, the NLRB will schedule a secret ballot election.
The College believes the decision to unionize belongs entirely to eligible faculty in the defined bargaining unit. We hope all eligible faculty will make an informed choice and participate fully in the election. To support this process, we will keep the community updated by sharing information on this webpage, adding FAQs on a regular basis in response to questions sourced from our community through this form.
