BCM & BCB STAFF UNION

We are staff workers who are forming a union in order to improve our working conditions at Berklee. Our work as staff of diverse backgrounds  drives the academic mission at Berklee and provides artistic education that benefits the many communities we touch. While we work across many specializations, our dedication to our work, students, and our community unite us all.

By organizing as a staff union, we are building a powerful and united democratic voice for us at Berklee, with the power to negotiate for improvements. We will secure these improvements in a legally binding contract.

Full and part-time staff at Berklee College of Music and the Boston Conservatory at Berklee are covered by the staff union, with some exceptions.

At this time, the following categories and departments are excluded from the staff union:

According to the National Labor Relations Act:

“The term “supervisor” means any individual having authority, in the interest of the employer, to hire, transfer, suspend, lay off, recall, promote, discharge, assign, reward, or discipline other employees, or responsibly to direct them, or to adjust their grievances, or effectively to recommend such action, if in connection with the foregoing the exercise of such authority is not of a merely routine or clerical nature, but requires the use of independent judgment.”

In our case, this does not include those who supervise work study students.

Between May 2024 and December 2024, many of us were contacted by colleagues to gauge our interest in creating a staff union. A majority of staff who were contacted expressed interest and support in a staff union, and a core group began an organizing committee (OC).

The staff union partnered with AFT (American Federation of Teachers), with support from the Berklee Faculty Union, and Studio Operations (represented by IBEW). In 2025, leadership began outlining the demands of the staff union based on feedback from a “workers’ issues” form.

Visit our History page for more details!

During our card campaign, we collected over a majority of union authorization cards from staff members across Berklee, and presented them to the Office of the President. Berklee has chosen to voluntarily recognize our union, and we are preparing to bargain for our first contract!

The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) is a union representing nearly two million educators, school-related personnel, healthcare workers, and government employees nationwide.

Forming a union with AFT means joining millions of education workers who are already represented by them and have supported our efforts for months. Educator unions are the largest unions in the country and by joining them we are participating in a movement to democratically improve working conditions at institutions of learning across the nation. Our faculty are already members of AFT and have been for decades. With a 98% membership rate, they bargain strong contracts that have allowed their wages to keep up with inflation and exceed it.

Learn more about AFT here.

While the Berklee Faculty Union is also affiliated with AFT, they are their own union and will bargain separately for their own contract. We are grateful for their support and empowered to be working together for similar aims!

Collective bargaining is a process, protected by US law, that equalizes the power relationship between employees and their employer.

Under collective bargaining, workers elect representatives to negotiate on equal footing with Berklee and put the terms of our employment into a legally binding contract. Through collective bargaining, we will improve wages and benefits, gain stronger protections against discrimination and harassment, and expand family-friendly benefits like paid leave and childcare subsidies, among other gains.

The card campaign is the process through which the union gathers support from its prospective members. You may have already been asked to sign a union authorization card as part of our campaign.

The goal is to collect signed authorization cards from enough staff members to show that the majority of our population is in favor of unionizing. The cards are then presented collectively to Berklee leadership, like a petition.

All the union authorization cards we collect are immediately given over to our card captains for safe keeping, where they are seen only by the Organizing Committee, our AFT representatives, and, eventually, a third-party verifier to ensure authenticity. It is highly unlikely for any one person to be singled out as a result of signing a card.

International workers have the same legal right to join a union as US citizens.
International employees are already in the faculty union here at Berklee. Unionization can result in protections that are especially valuable for international employees. It is important that international employees join and participate in the union so their voices and unique struggles can be heard and best defended.

It is illegal for an institution to retaliate against anyone for joining a union. This includes actions such as laying off employees, contacting any government or law enforcement agency (including ICE), reducing pay, hours, or benefits, implementing changes in work schedules, requiring additional paperwork, or threatening to do any of these things.

If you feel you are experiencing retaliation, please reach out to us at info@bcmbcbsu.org. You can also learn more about your rights as a union member here.

Yes – beginning from our first contract, a small percentage of dues will be deducted from our paychecks. This percentage will be somewhere around 1-4%. We will not vote to ratify a contract where the amount of dues outpaces our wages or raises.

Dues are contributed into a fund for the union, to cover things such as legal fees and emergency funds, and allow us and others like us to work with representatives from AFT at no cost. In other words, they are an investment in our future!

All union decisions – including the decision about whether or not to strike – will be made democratically. While it is a legally protected right for us, we will only exercise it if we collectively think it is necessary.

Ninety-eight percent of union contracts are reached without a strike.

If you are passionate about improving working conditions at Berklee and fighting for democracy on campus, please contact info@bcmbcbsu.org and we will help find a role that meets your talents and interests!

Visit our Get Involved page to find more ways to contribute.