2022 Bargain Begins With a Thud

On Monday, June 6, the Berklee Faculty Union met with Berklee management to begin negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement. The union team consisted of eight people; the management team numbered a robust twenty-two. The union team had dressed for a business meeting; management’s team appeared to be dressed for a softball game.

Union President, Will Silvio, proposed both sides work collaboratively to eliminate extraneous language from the current contract, such as irrelevant references to the merger with the conservatory, expired criteria, etc.

After a forty-five minute caucus, management returned to say they were unable to make any agreements with the union at this point. President Silvio said, “See you later.” And that was that.

Management also informed the union they would not be able to meet again until June 27.

Let’s hope for a modicum of progress then.