UPDATE: Following our breaking-news story, union representatives informed The Shoestring that they had called off the strike after 24-hours and accepted an offer to get back to the bargaining table. On Friday, Sept. 5, union members tentatively agreed to a contract that delivers desired wage increases as well as access to legal funds and time off to deal with immigration cases.
SOUTH HADLEY — On Tuesday, as students lined up for convocation to celebrate a new semester at Mount Holyoke College, campus workers had walked off the job and began picketing in front of the school.
Nearly 200 workers went on strike early Tuesday as part of a multi-union action, calling for fair wages and better working conditions. They represent a wide section of the college’s workforce: dining workers like dishwashers and cooks, facilities workers such as groundskeepers and custodians, and housekeepers in the dorms. Protesting in front of the college, they said the school isn’t paying all of its workforce a living wage and has broken labor law during its negotiations with them.
“We want better money, better quality of life,” said Jorge Ossandón, a bakery worker who has worked at Mount Holyoke for four years. He said he worries about having to pick up a second job to support his family, including his three children. “I hope they listen to us and give us what we deserve.”
Most of the workers are members of Service Employees International Union Local 32BJ, though the 25 housekeepers are represented by the local chapter of the United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America. In a statement, a Mount Holyoke College spokesperson said that the college has been in negotiations with the unions since March and April of this year, respectively.
“We remain committed to reaching a fair and sustainable agreement,” the statement said. “We deeply value and recognize the contributions of all of our employees. We will continue to negotiate in good faith with Local 32BJ and Local UAW 2322 in the hope of reaching a resolution as quickly as possible.”
The strike comes amid a wave of local labor organizing and union activism in western Massachusetts. More workers unionized in the region in 2024 than any previous year since at least 2019, according to a review of federal union election filings. Speaking at Tuesday’s rally, UAW Local 2322 President Patrick Burke said his union’s members have taken five strike authorization votes in the past three years — a big uptick in militancy. And SEIU 32BJ Regional Communications Manager Franklin Soults said this was the union’s first strike in recent memory in western Massachusetts.
Higher-ed workers have been at the forefront of that organizing in the region. The increase in unionized workers in 2024 driven in large part by organizing staffers at Smith College, for example. And just last week, the Professional Staff Union at the University of Massachusetts Amherst held a large rally during student move-in, calling on the university to pay its workers enough to live with dignity.
“We want respect, we want more wages,” Mount Holyoke College housekeeper Rhonda Saletnik said. She has worked at the college for seven years and said that another priority for the union is for the college to honor longevity for its workers. “The college works because we work.”
Bonnie Catalfamo is a culinary assistant at Mount Holyoke, where she has worked for 19 years.
“It seems like they listened more in the past,” she said.
For Ann Kosior, like many workers, it was the first time she has ever been out on strike. A culinary assistant for more than two years, she said the college has the money to treat its workers right but doesn’t want to spend it on them.
“We are the backbone for the students,” Kosior said. “We’re their home away from home,” Catalfamo replied.
Several speakers at Tuesday’s rally acknowledged that their strike comes at a time when President Donald Trump and his administration is threatening funding for institutions of higher education.
Rich Sugrue, a cook at the college for the past nine years, referenced Mount Holyoke alumna Frances Perkins, the workers-rights advocate and former U.S. secretary of labor under President Franklin D. Roosevelt. He said that she fought for, and won, big improvements for workers “at the most difficult time” — the height of the Great Depression.
“It’s hard for us right now; we are at the most difficult time,” Sugrue said. That is the time for Mount Holyoke to back its workers, though, he said. “We need them to support us like we’ve supported them.”
Supporters of the striking workers honked their horns as they drove down College Street on Tuesday. And it wasn’t just at the strike that allies made themselves heard.
At this year’s convocation on Tuesday, seniors passed out purple and yellow SEIU 32BJ stickers to wear on their robes. When Sally Durdan, a trustee of the college, took the stage of the amphitheater, students chanted “pay your workers” for several minutes, delaying the ceremony. Some students even chimed in with chants of “no convocation.”
President Danielle Holley took the stage to acknowledge the strike outside. Students seated behind Holley in the college’s choir turned their backs on her during her statement. Holley said the college was working toward an agreement with its workers.
“We are working very, very carefully on that, and will meet all demands regarding the living wage,” Holley said, according to a video of the event shared with The Shoestring. “I think we’ve already agreed on that.”
However, SEIU 32BJ Executive Vice President Kevin Brown disputed that characterization of bargaining.
“It’s not true,” Brown said in a statement shared by the union. “The college hasn’t offered a living wage for this county.”
In her speech, Holley also said that she is “pro-labor” herself and has family who are union members.
Normally, there is a picnic with hired caterers outside following convocation. Students planned to boycott the picnic and go to the dining hall instead in support of the workers. However, Holley told the gathered students it was canceled.
Picketing was set to continue into the afternoon, with students in attendance starting at 3 p.m.
Dusty Christensen is The Shoestring's investigations editor. Based in western Massachusetts, his award-winning investigative reporting has appeared in newspapers and on radio stations across the region. He has reported for outlets including The Nation magazine, NPR, Haaretz, New England Public Media, The Boston Globe, The Appeal, In These Times, and PBS. He teaches journalism to future muckrakers at both the University of Massachusetts Amherst and Smith College. Send story tips to: dchristensen@theshoestring.org.
Melanie is a reporter studying English and Sociology at Mount Holyoke College. When she isn't writing, you'll probably find her exploring a bookstore in Amherst or Northampton with an iced coffee in hand. You can reach her on Instagram @mbduronio or on Facebook @melanie.duronio. To view her clips, visit https://www.clippings.me/melanieduronio.
