Unicco Workers at Simmons Ratify New Contract
In January 2008, Unicco workers at Simmons College won an excellent five-year contract. With the support of Simmons students and faculty, bargaining members Ilione Ribiera, Sonia Pereira, Lenny Lesard, and Chris Skeens got impressive wage and benefit increases.
Under the new contract, Category A workers won a raise of $1.25 per hour and Category B workers $0.70 per hour followed by $0.30 every six months beginning the following year. Vacancies of part-time positions on the first shift will be combined to create full-time jobs with health insurance coverage. The number of paid sick days jumped from 2 to 4, and will continue to increase to a total of 6 days by the end of the agreement. The day after Thanksgiving will become an additional paid holiday and vacation time will increase after the fifth year. After five years of employment, workers will now get two weeks of unpaid leave. In addition, Unicco will begin to contribute to a training fund that sponsors the workers’ English language and computer classes at the Union office, and Unicco’s contributions to the pension program will also increase under the new agreement. Finally, the seniority, immigration and “no discrimination” language in the contract was dramatically improved.
The Unicco workers at Simmons would especially like to thank the students, faculty, and alumni for their support, and to specifically recognize the work of Student Labor Action Project leader Elisa Kreisinger and graduate student Joshua Parker for their help to make this round of bargaining a huge success.