The so-called Amherst Compact was written by local and state union representatives who met at a summit organized by Higher Education Labor United in January at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. The unions in the compact represent workers in nine states — Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont — and a variety of higher-ed employees, including food service, custodial, security, teaching, student, and postdoctoral workers. Several large unions in the group, including those representing faculty members at the State University of New York and Rutgers University, recently kicked off bargaining for their next contracts.
“Each of these unions is committing to fight for these priorities in the next round of bargaining,” said Levin Kim, national chair for HELU, which was founded in 2021 to organize higher-ed workers across the country. “We’re hoping that it sets an industry standard for all of these issues.”
