Why we are organizing......

Through organizing with AFSCME Council 93 we hope to address the issues listed below to make #aBetterMIT.

  • Negotiating higher salary for support and administrative staff.  It is very difficult to afford housing in the Boston area on the salary we’re paid.
  • Lack of a promotion path.  Certain exempt staff have an established promotion path, and their promotions come with an automatic 10% increase in salary.  We don’t begrudge these staff this - it’s as it should be! But, the fact that no similar promotion path is available to the rest of the staff makes us feel like second class citizens.
  • A sense that we’re hurtling toward the Big Shiny Future of Libraries, without enough attention to the concerns of those of us who make the Present Day Library run well for the community that is using the library and its resources *today*, in the year 2019. 
  • Keeping temps for too long in positions that really should be regular staff. The use of “temp” status keeps long time employees from the benefits that even a term position would provide.
  • Similarly, we need a limit on the use of term positions for covering work that is needed long-term. 
  • Making sure that all employees are fairly compensated for the level of work they are expected to provide. Inequities exist between categories due to job creep and chronic understaffing. "Other Duties As Required"
  • Stop the practice of forcing us to compete with each other for annual raises.
  • Review the MIT benefits package - it has been years since it has been significantly reviewed for competition with local universities.  Ex: vacation time, pension/401k contribution, tuition reimbursement, leave policies, etc.
  • Required managerial training for all people managing any FTE.
  • Limits to on call hours for infrastructure and enterprise folks.  There is currently no plan in place so they’re defacto on call 24/7.
  • Closure with full pay for all libraries locations, offices, and staff from 12/24-1/1 inclusive, every year, without a loss in vacation time.
  • A humane snow closure policy. The libraries will close when: A snow emergency is declared in Cambridge, schools are closed in Cambridge, a state of emergency is declared in MA, blizzard conditions are expected by any of the following (NOAA, NWS, ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, the Weather Channel), or MIT closes.  Any one of these is enough to automatically close all library locations with pay for all staff.
  • A humane T fail policy. Hourly employees should not be punished for the T failing yet again!