AMHERST — An early December no-confidence vote in Chancellor Javier Reyes by members of the Professional Staff Union at the University of Massachusetts is looming if a new contract isn’t soon reached for the 2,400 members at the Amherst and Boston campuses.
With time running short and few mediation sessions scheduled, members of the union, joined by representatives from other unions on campus, held a No Contract, No Confidence rally in front of the Whitmore Administration Building Thursday afternoon, expressing their displeasure with Reyes and what they believe are his directives to put merit-based pay in the new contract.
“We demand better of our leaders,” said Emmy Cooper, a senior academic adviser for biochemistry and molecular biology, adding that the union should no longer tolerate being bullied and stonewalled.
Cooper said that if she gets to vote, she will favor no confidence in Reyes, adding that she doesn’t believe he can lead UMass to a brighter future.
On a brisk, cloudy day, the 501st day that the workers have gone without a new contract, close to 300 people participated in the action, holding signs and leading chants in between speakers.
While union members contend the merit-based wage increases would strip away the cost of living adjustments set for January 2027, they also believe Reyes is trying to declare an impasse through the state Department of Labor Relations.
UMass spokeswoman Emily Gest said the university is negotiating as required under state law with a public employees union.
“The university will continue to present its proposals in good faith and bargain under the laws set forth in Chapter 150E,” Gest said.
UMass officials also dispute that an impasse is being sought.
“UMass has only requested the presence of a neutral, state-appointed mediator to assist us in reaching a mutually agreeable resolution,” Gest said.
The union includes many of the student support staff, student success workers, residential directors, advisers and administrative staff.
The ire for Reyes comes with the possibility of having the last, best offer imposed, according to union members.
Reyes, though, doesn’t actively participate in negotiations and is not a member of the bargaining team, which would be counter to the university’s long-standing practice to abide by state law governing the collective bargaining process, Gest said.
Still, those at the rally took aim at him.
“We believe Chancellor Javier Reyes is the main block in achieving a fair contract,’ Andrew Gorry, who co-chairs PSU and handles marketing and communications at the College of Education. “It’s important for him to know we’ve lost confidence in his leadership.”
Printed were invitations to the non-confidence vote delivered to the chancellor’s office, with many writing and elaborating on the cards that suggested “in lieu of gifts, please send a fair contract now.”
The stack of these “deliverables” was collected in the chancellor’s office after protesters peacefully entered the building with their signs and occasionally broke into song. After handing them off, they exited the building in an orderly way, giving each other high fives.
While the non-binding, no-confidence vote could happen Dec. 3 for about 1,600 members on the Amherst campus, the chapter board did take a vote of no confidence. That chapter board, the union’s governing institution, took its vote on Nov. 7.
“People take the jobs at UMass because they love the institution and believe in its mission,” Gorry said. “This is supposed to be a job with dignity and security.”
“We’re still hoping for a reset in the relationship,” Gorry said.
Many wearing green “PSU Strong” shirts reading “UMass works because we do,” the members say that merit-based pay would mean not all are guaranteed to get the cost of living, diminishing the contracts of those not popular with their bosses
Santiago Vidales, DEI committee chair for PSU, put it succinctly. “Everybody gets a raise or no one gets a raise,” Vidales said.
And he added that he is concerned about the criticism already directed at UMass for its support for Israel and the defense industry.
“Union busters and genocide supporters are not welcome at UMass,” Vidales said.
“There’s a real sense that UMass is not invested in us,” said Ari Jewell, associate managing editor of UMass Magazine.
Jewell said the union wants all members to get to a living wage. “The administration hasn’t shared an interest in that,” Jewell said.
As evidence, Jewell and Hannah Bernhard, a communications manager at UMass and chapter board member at large, said that members are seeing each other at the new Campus Food Pantry.
Bernhard said that workers are becoming increasingly disadvantaged by an offer they know that isn’t fair.
A Massachusetts Society of Professors member informed PSU that the merit-based pay, now in its contract, would be horrible for other unions, Bernhard said.
During the rally, members of other unions also spoke.
Kyle Chambers, vice president of the University Staff Association, said the clerical and technical workers stand by PSU due to its having been forced into a contract after UMass officials requested the presence of a neutral, state-appointed mediator.
“That’s not bargaining, that’s control,” Chambers said, urging PSA members to “hold the line.”
Kevin Young, a member of the Massachusetts Society of Professors, said there is authoritarianism of leadership “with utter contempt for our voices.” and criticized UMass for investing money in increasing the number of deans and upgrading the football stadium to the tune of $25 million or more, while curtailing support for a net zero energy campus and union contracts.
“When they say there’s no money, that’s a straight-up lie,” Young said.
PSU’s other co-chair, Nellie Taylor, called on Reyes to settle a fair contract immediately.
“UMass itself knows that it cannot attract enough staff to keep the university running smoothly in its mission of supporting the education, health and well-being of its students,” Taylor said.