RISD: Teamsters Plan to Strike on Campus

RISD: Teamsters Plan to Strike on Campus

RISD announced on Wednesday that it has been notified by General Teamsters Local 251, the union representing their movers, custodians and grounds services staff members, that it plans to strike on campus on Thursday, March 23. 

On Wednesday, RISD released the following statement: 

"This is a tactic to pressure the college into an inequitable agreement. After several sessions with a federal mediator, the union received RISD’s last and best offer on February 16. It included RISD providing each member with retroactive payments back to last July  – an average payment of $2,300 per employee. That payment was conditional on acceptance of RISD’s offer by March 1. 

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The union did not respond to RISD’s offer by the March 1 deadline. On March 18, the union sent RISD a counter-proposal that included unreasonable demands related to benefits and excessive demands for compensation identical to previous proposals.

RISD has been negotiating with the union since June 2022 to come to an agreement that provides our valued employees with wage increases while maintaining their benefits. The union has continued to demand benefits and wage increases that go well beyond what RISD considers fiscally responsible and deviates from RISD’s overall compensation philosophy, which seeks to maintain equity across the college.  

RISD does not expect this strike to impact access to RISD buildings, resources or other elements of the RISD student experience.  

We are committed to bringing this matter to a successful conclusion. For that to happen, union leaders need to negotiate in a meaningful way so that together we can create a contract that fairly compensates our employees for their vital service in a fiscally responsible way."  

PHOTO: Kenneth Zirkel/CC 4.0