To: Wellesley College Community
From: Courtney Coile, Provost and Lia Gelin Poorvu ’56 Dean of the College, and Carolyn Slaboden, Chief Human Resources Officer
Re: College puts new dependent care benefit and 16 articles on table in bid to end strike
Date: April 1, 2025
Earlier today, the College’s bargaining team came to the table with a significant number of new proposals—16 articles in total—aimed at ending the strike with WOAW-UAW, the union representing our non-tenure track faculty.
The College offered, for the first time, a Dependent Care provision under which families with children five years old or younger would receive $5,000 a year (on a pre-tax basis) to help defray the cost of child care, as part of a package meant to resolve all outstanding benefit issues.
The College also offered a set of new leave proposals that layer on top of already generous benefits, making faculty eligible for many key leave benefits after only one year of service.
The College’s new proposal on the Prohibition against Discrimination introduces new protections on bullying that would apply to any case of bullying, not just bullying associated with a protected status. The proposal further guarantees that any case of alleged discrimination, harassment, or bullying can proceed to grievance and arbitration and that any case of alleged insufficient “supportive measures” can proceed to grievance and arbitration if the faculty member is not satisfied.
The proposals the College has put on the table enshrine access to important existing benefits, including health insurance and retirement benefits, and access to faculty housing at rents capped at 70% of market value—and rents would not rise by more than 4% per year, under the College’s latest proposal.
The College and the union reached tentative agreements on two articles, bringing the total articles agreed-upon to 22. For more information about the status of negotiations, please visit this link.
These articles and others not detailed here are designed to address many of the concerns raised by WOAW. Taken together, these significant moves by the College draw the parties closer to reaching a comprehensive agreement. We call on the union to end the strike, focus on the critical work at the negotiating table, and allow students to return to their usual classes.
The College continues to believe that the best way forward is to secure the assistance of a neutral private mediator to resolve remaining differences over the contract. We again call on the union to accept our offer of mediation to help reach a final contract as soon as possible.