On Thursday, Sept. 25, around 30 members of Vassar’s workers’ union and eight Vassar students gathered in the third-floor lobby of Baldwin Hall to support the union’s ongoing contract negotiations with the Vassar administration. Service Employees International Union Local 200 United (SEIU) represents around 265 employees on Vassar’s campus, including Dining, Facilities and Operations workers. According to SEIU Chair John Santiago, the union has been active at Vassar since at least the 1940s.
Those present were in high spirits, shaking hands, chatting and holding signs that said “Union Strong” and “We Love Vassar Workers.” It was not a protest: Attendees emphasized that they did not want to be disruptive, only use their presence to show solidarity. “We’re just here showing our support,” said Nick Amato, an SEIU Shop Steward. Shop stewards are union representatives elected by union members. “We’re just hoping for a fair contract. We appreciate everybody, students and staff, helping out.” He added by email, “[We] appreciate the College coming to many tentative agreements thus far.”
The negotiations come at a time when employees expressed feeling underappreciated by the administration. Andrea Hall, who is representing Gordon Commons employees at the negotiating table, related how workers, as the ones on the ground making the school run, have the strongest rapport with students. Staff are the ones students see cleaning the dorms, serving them food and keeping the campus in good condition. Commenting on the daily interactions between students and staff, Hall said, “Just those few little seconds make such a big difference in that person’s day.” She added of the administration, “You want to turn around and give us peanuts. You’re not appreciating the little things we do.”
Another Vassar employee, who requested anonymity, recounted feeling that administrators lack respect for workers. They said, “It’s like they don’t acknowledge us, or they pretend, which I think is more insulting, they’ll pretend they don’t see [us]… We had a manager say we should be grateful we have these jobs because we’re nothing but a bunch of uneducated, overpaid morons.”
Often, according to the anonymous employee, staff are not given the equipm ent required to effectively do their jobs. “We don’t even use hot water to clean. They cut off the hot water in our janitor sinks,” they described. “We want to come in here and do our job, too. We like to say that our building is clean, but how can we do that if I can’t get a rag, I can’t get a dustpan, I can’t get a new shower machine, I can’t do my job really.”
According to the employee, the administration’s attitude toward its workers is, “Shut up and clean, shut up and cook, shut up and mow.”
Vice President for Technology and Human Resources Carlos García and Associate Vice President of Human Resources Ginger Jurecka Blake wrote in an email to The Miscellany News, “We strive to support employees through ongoing dialogue, transparent processes, and by recognizing their contributions with fair compensation, benefits, and a healthy workplace culture… We remain committed to continuous improvement and to strengthening how we acknowledge and support our employees.”
A major factor in the negotiations is that Vassar workers are currently in the seventh year of a five-year contract that was meant to expire in 2023. Santiago and Hall both described the situation to this paper. During the COVID-19 pandemic, SEIU agreed to a contract extension without the planned pay increase of 2.5 percent set to take effect on July 1, 2020. Hall recalled a small pay increase at the time of the extension, but was unsure of the exact percentage. She estimated that it was around 1 percent, but accounting for inflation, “We definitely took a cut.”
SEIU agreed to a second extension due to Vassar human resources (HR) staffing issues, which expired on June 30, 2025. Since June, said Santiago, the contract has been extended again as an act of “good faith bargaining.” The current extension is slated to expire at the end of September.
Hall felt that the administration was not accounting for the multiple extensions in its contract proposals. “It’s not remembered. They’re not remembering our sacrifice,” she said, citing the fact that the HR staff on the negotiating team were not present for the extension agreements.
García and Blake wrote, “We deeply appreciate the resilience and commitment employees showed during 2020. During the pandemic, Vassar protected all jobs and avoided layoffs. Afterward, we provided pay increases and one-time payments to recognize employee contributions and stronger-than-expected budget outcomes.”
Negotiations for a new contract began last March, with the bargaining teams meeting over 20 times since then. According to Santiago, SEIU wants the new contract to maintain healthcare and pensions, in addition to raising wages above inflation. The inflation rate is currently 2.9 percent. According to Hall, the administration’s initial proposal was 2 percent, below inflation. Due to the ongoing nature of the negotiations, said Hall, “I can’t go to the next one they’ve proposed, but it wasn’t much better.”
Of inflation, Santiago said, “Everybody feels it across the board. We are asking the College to exceed inflation some so you actually get a raise. That is a point of tension.”
The anonymous employee described how working at Vassar has recently become increasingly untenable. “There was a time when this job, this was all you needed,” they said. But now, “With rents being what they are, now a lot of people have had to go get second jobs just to stay afloat.” They continued, “We would just like respect or increase to get over this inflation. So people don’t have to choose when they go to the store, ‘Yeah, the kids need milk, but we also need toilet paper.’ No one should have to ever make that decision, but people have to make it.”
García and Blake wrote, “Vassar treats all benefit investments as part of compensation and provides SEIU employees with a comprehensive package—including healthcare, dental, vision, life insurance, and a pension—at no cost to employees.”
Sitting outside the negotiating room during a recess, Hall said that she felt the administration’s team was not taking the bargaining as seriously as they should have been. “They keep saying, ‘I’m glad we’re having this conversation,’” Hall recounted. “We’re not having a conversation. We’re negotiating.”
Addressing the administration, Hall said, “It’s not looking fair, what you’re trying to give, and you want us to be considerate of a million and one things. You forget that we’re the backbone… Because we do have a fan club. They [the administration] don’t have that. The Trustees don’t have that. We have that.”
Students who gathered in Baldwin expressed support for workers and the negotiations. “We’re here because Vassar could not run without its workers. And students care, and we want to show that students care about the folks that work here,” commented Malia Weiss ’26, a member of Student Labor Dialogue (SLD). SLD is a collective designed to be student backing for Vassar employees. “As a student of this school, I stand behind the SEIU union 100 percent and I think that all the workers of this school are what make this place run, and I take their negotiations seriously,” said Moxie Thompson ’26. “I think we’re all paying attention and support them in their efforts to get a fair wage.”
Throughout the gathering in the Baldwin lobby and in interviews with this paper, SEIU members expressed appreciation for students’ support for workers and the negotiations. “We do appreciate all the students,” Santiago remarked. “It’s been a pleasure to have the students and a relief as someone who’s been here long enough to understand what it means when students get involved. It’s heartwarming.” In an email to The Miscellany News, Santiago wrote, “Yesterday’s session did end with the College making slight increases in their wage proposal. We are still apart on wages but good faith negotiation is still being had. We have scheduled Oct. 9th for our next session.”
“Vassar remains committed to bargaining in good faith with the union, balancing employee needs with responsible stewardship of resources so we can provide stable employment and deliver on our educational mission for generations to come,” wrote García and Blake.
The anonymous employee is also looking to the future. After recalling worsening labor conditions, a stagnating wage and feelings of disrespect, they said of the administration, “They don’t realize what they created. They don’t realize what they’ve started. And I’m not gonna tell them. I’m just going to let them find out for themselves.”
Responsible stewardship of resources also includes ensuring the employees who maintain the buildings, grounds, and dining facilities are invested in. Those grounds and meals don’t take care of themselves. In fact, without the buildings, grounds, and dining areas, you wouldn’t have a college! Invest in your employees!!! Pay a living wage; you have the money. Your employees are a resource.