To: Bishop Mark Sisk, Board of Trustees Chairperson
GTS BOARD: REINSTATE FACULTY & MEET WITH THEM
It is completely unjust and unfair to fire people without notice or cause, take away their healthcare and jeopardize their livelihoods. All workers deserve the right to bargain collectively for changes in working conditions. We demand you reinstate the eight GTS faculty who were fired for standing up and advocating for a better work environment.
Why is this important?
On September 30, 2014, eight professors at GTS were fired for exercising their basic (and legal!) rights as faculty members and as workers: the right to form a union. They demanded to meet to address issues that create a “hostile work environment."
Their firing doesn’t just impact the professors, but the students and future leaders of the Church. As custodians and overseers of an institution charged with nurturing the next generation of Episcopalian leaders, it is the Board of Trustees’ responsibility to lead by example and practice worker relations that align with the values of the Church and honor workers’ legal and moral rights.
At the 2102 General Convention, the Episcopal Church resolved to build networks in the labor movement and work with those in the labor movement to strengthen for a more just society, pledged to oppose legislative attempts that eliminate or reduce collective bargaining rights and consider union rights when making purchasing and contracting decisions. Given the Episcopal Church’s explicate opposition to retaliation and support of workers’ right to organize, the Board of Trustees must quickly reinstate these faculty members and meet with them as a collective bargaining unit.