The Point: Join the FSU, Be the Labor Movement

12/11/2025

This week’s edition was written by The Point committee. As always, The Point represents the views of the authors and is not the official position of the FSU.

Dear Colleagues,

We write this week to highlight FSU’s ongoing effort to increase union membership at UMass Boston  -- to make sure that all faculty and librarians who are eligible to be part of the FSU are in fact union members.   Increasing our numbers will not only enhance the FSU’s ability to fight for everyone in the unit.  It will also ensure that everyone enjoys the benefits of union membership (see attached).   Beyond this, and particularly in the current moment, strong unions – and a strong labor movement more broadly – are absolutely necessary for shaping the political system both nationally and in Massachusetts, whether we are talking about trade and tax policies or defending against attacks on immigrants, academic freedom, and working people more broadly.  We need strong unions.    

As you know, the FSU works to improve the pay and working conditions of faculty and librarians while also protecting its members against administrative overreach (see below for some of the benefits won by the FSU in the last round of bargaining).  The union is also key for making the voice of faculty and librarians heard on campus – for insisting that shared governance is more than administrative rhetoric at UMass Boston.

More than this, unions -- as part of a larger labor movement -- are key for making Massachusetts and the United States more democratic and equitable.  There is no path towards a more just economy and political system that does not involve strong unions.   To accomplish this, we need to not only establish more unions in more workplaces.  We need to make sure everyone employed in already unionized workplaces belongs to (and participates) in their unions. 

In this sense, it is important for everyone in the bargaining unit to join the FSU for the simple reason that it maximizes our collective power – for better wages, benefits, working conditions, etc.   It also strengthens the Massachusetts Teachers Association (MTA), the most important advocate for public education in the state.  As part of the MTA, our union dues helped push through the Fair Share Amendment, support living wages for paraeducators, and protect K-12 teachers being run out of classrooms for private social media posts.

We are not alone.  More and more university employees across the country are realizing the benefits of union membership – the importance having a unionized workplace.  The number of unionized faculty increased by 7.5% between 2012 and 2024, with most of that growth coming from non-tenure-track faculty.  Without unions, the inequalities that have come to define higher ed will only worsen.  Likewise, as college administrators across the country have continued to cave to the Trump administration, more and more faculty and staff had recognized the importance of having a union to protect academic freedom.  Nor are they alone.  Graduate student employees saw an increase of 133% during the same time period while postdocs, including those at Harvard,  and undergrads also started to get the union bug.

For those who do not belong to the FSU, someone from the union will be reaching out soon to simply have a conversation.   The union wants to hear your concerns – about UMass Boston as a workplace and the FSU as a union.  For the vast majority of you who already belong to the FSU (way to go!), now is a great time to talk to all of your colleagues about your workplace concerns and what you want your union to be.   The FSU wants to hear from you (fsu@umb.edu).

Sincerely, The Point Committee

A few of the important gains won by the FSU in the last round of bargaining:

Across-the-board (ATB) raises: A total of 12.5% over the three-year term of the contract.

Salary Floors- We got 10-15% increases to salary floors for all ranks. These new floors resulted in de facto raises for many of our members, especially those who are Lecturers and Assistant Professors.

Increases to promotional raises (hugely important when factored out over a career).

Increase in travel funds from $1,150 to $1,700.

For NTTs and Librarians, a $100,000 Professional Development Fund was established, which will be distributed in the same way as RES money had been (which had been $37,500).

Anti-Racism Grant Funds – Increased to $50,000 from $45,000 per year.

Librarians- Paid leaves will count as service time for promotion; shortened timeline toward promotion; new language on procedures for campus closures and remote operations; $1,500 for PMYR.