As contract talks begin, the Local 888 chapter at Emerson College is gearing up to offer a “Unity Unmuted” podcast series.
A test release of the podcast features an upbeat rock music introduction followed by an interview with Shaylin Hogan, the chapter’s vice president and SEIU Local 888’s secretary-treasurer. The interviewer talks about “the spark behind the fire that’s still burning in the Emerson staff union.”
For Hogan, it all started with a conversation after a burnout of a day. The solution to the problem of overwork that a co-worker offered: Join together and organize a union.
One of Hogan’s first thoughts: “It seems like a really extreme reaction to one bad day on the job.” But that soon changed as she talked to co-workers “about their daily lives in the office, and on campus — and off campus, when their supervisors were texting them at midnight or refusing to give them a day off when they were sick.”
At that point, she concluded that unionizing was more than just a good idea: “We need to do this.” Emerson staffers voted to unite with Local 888 in 2016 and then elected a contract negotiating team of about 20 members.
Now, there are about 170 clerical, technical and professional employees at Emerson who perform a variety of jobs critical to the success of the college. For a recent update, see www.seiu888.org/2021/04/16/emerson-staff-takes-digital-age-action/.
For more on Emerson unionizing, see www.seiu888.org/2019/05/07/emerson-marks-anniversary/ and www.seiu888.org/2015/12/14/whose-emerson-our-emerson!-college-staff-take-steps-to-unite-in-local-888/.