To help offset the unprecedented financial challenges catalysed by COVID-19, Marist laid off roughly 10 administrative assistants, some of whom had been with the school for at least 20 years. The layoffs went into effect on Sept. 1, one of a number of “belt-tightening” measures President Murray warned the college would have to take this year.

Administrative assistants represented were not the only employees affected by the layoffs. Marist’s Director of Security John Blaisdell confirmed that there have been layoffs within his department, but he declined to comment further.

The Marist administrative assistants who were laid off are represented by the Communications Workers of America (CWA), the largest communications and media labor union in the U.S. Carl Bertsche, the business agent for the Poughkeepsie CWA Local 1120, said that Vassar College offered buyouts to its CWA employees to “soften the blow,” but Marist tabled that option after the second negotiation meeting and opted to lay off its employees instead.

According to Bertsche, Marist also wanted the union to waive a clause in their contract that would require the school to give its employees a 60-day notice ahead of the job action. When they refused to cede the notice, Bertsche said Marist did not respond well.

“They got indignant,” he said to the Poughkeepsie Journal. “We held them to that. We’re here to protect our members.”

The college’s reaction surprised Bertsche, who said Marist has usually been the more “blue-collar” of the two Poughkeepsie institutions in years past. Between the two colleges, Bertsche represents hundreds of clerical, technical and administrative employees, 165 at Vassar and 110 at Marist.

When it comes to layoffs, the contract Marist holds with the CWA outlines a layoff system based on level of seniority, meaning employees in occasional positions are the first to go, followed by temporary positions. According to Bertsche, many of the Marist employees who faced layoffs felt slighted by the college’s handling of the situation and its refusal to come to a better agreement.

“My job is to fight for their jobs,” he said. “But [Marist] isn’t really in the framework of trying to resolve anything.”

In a public message posted to the CWA Local 1120’s website on July 21, before final decisions had been made, the union’s president Frank Fauci openly addressed its troublesome negotiations with Marist. The letter speaks to a tense relationship with the school.

“This past week we witnessed again that Marist College is intent on moving forward with job eliminations,” Fauci said in the statement. “The latest display that Marist does not care about [its CWA employees] was on display with them violating your contract by attempting to have members sign a Severance Agreement. As soon as CWA Local 1120 heard of this, we contacted Marist to get that rescinded. We continue to work on solutions without job eliminations. So far, Marist is not interested.”

Besides Marist and Vassar, the CWA Local 1120 has 15 other contracts with local employers. Bertsche said Marist is the only one that has been an issue in regards to layoff negotiations. He also suggested that the college might not be finished with its layoff process just yet.

“Everybody’s upset about the situation, but no one is being vocal about it because they’re concerned they could be next,” Bertsche said.

Marist’s Director of Media Relations Julia Fishman responded with the school’s official statement.

“Like many colleges and universities, Marist has made some challenging decisions this year in light of the uncertainty brought on by COVID-19,” Fishman said. “By far, the most difficult one was to eliminate staff positions. Every employee contributes to the success of the College, so this is not something we came to lightly.”

Marist lays off administrative assistants, Security due to COVID-19 cuts

MARIST CIRCLE