Bentley University Adjuncts Vote "Union Yes" in Landslide; Boston-Area Campus Elections Unanimously Vote for SEIU

Adjunct faculty at Bentley University overwhelmingly voted “Union Yes” casting their ballots to join Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 509 and its Faculty Forward project. Attorney Patrick Bryant advised and represented Local 509 throughout the organizing drive. The vote marks the third faculty union victory by Local 509 in as many weeks, and shows that with nearly 3,000 Boston-area educators now joined in a shared effort to improve their profession and the overall quality of higher education through unionization.

Today's vote also means that every campus where adjuncts have petitioned to be represented by SEIU have voted Union Yes.
With today's two-to-one vote, more than 220 adjunct professors at Bentley join adjunct colleagues at Boston University, Northeastern and Lesley in forming unions through SEIU Local 509. In October, part-time lecturers at Tufts signed their first union contract – making significant gains around compensation, working conditions and educators’ role in decision-making. Contingent faculty on the Lesley and Northeastern campuses also began contract negotiations in recent months.

The Bentley adjunct faculty vote was conducted by mail, with ballots tabulated at the National Labor Relations Board office in Boston. Three-quarters of eligible faculty participated in the election.