Union values are Berea values. College should allow student worker union to move forward. | Opinion
“There were some of the friends of liberty who could assent to the general principles of justice and love, who thought it not expedient to make a literal, specific application of them.” John G. Fee
As alumni of Berea College, we believe that unions and collective bargaining align with our college’s great commitments to the dignity of all labor and a democratic community.
Collective bargaining explicitly recognizes the dignity of all labor by facilitating equal and fair negotiations and material gains on workplace safety, disciplinary procedures, and fair, livable wages. By federal law, unions also largely come into being entirely through a democratic election of workers.
The Berea union campaign put forth by student-workers wholly and irrefutably embraces The Great Commitments that guide Berea College’s educational mission. Unfortunately, the college has opposed the students’ campaign through an expensive union-busting law firm, delaying their union election and challenging their rights as student workers. With the incoming Trump administration set to significantly curtail labor rights and stack the National Labor Relations Board with an anti-union chair, the college should work with student workers to reach an election agreement now. Further delays by the college administration would only undermine student workers’ rights and serve to further the Trump administration’s anti-worker agenda.
Additionally, anti-union efforts contravene core aspects of Berea’s educational mission. Berea prides itself on its legacy as the first interracial and coeducational college in the South; a history that was rooted in radical abolitionism. Historically, Berea College fought to preserve that mission, even going so far as to litigate before the Supreme Court. Nearly 100 years later however, the College regretfully finds itself challenging the natural and logical outgrowth that comes when an institution positions itself as an advocate for dignified labor and a democratic community.
By challenging student workers’ right to a union, Berea College is threatening to undermine student workers’ rights to unionize at colleges and universities across the United States. Should Berea College appeal an initial positive union determination, it sets itself as an attractive test case for overturning the NLRB’s decision in Columbia University, a pro-union ruling that serves as the modern legal backbone for campus unionization nationwide. If such an outcome were to materialize, it would forever stain Berea’s reputation as an institution committed to social and economic justice.
Students and alumni are not blind to the practical legal and administrative concerns that come with Berea’s unique educational model. However, those concerns are best addressed in a good faith bargaining process. The mere presence of a union or collective bargaining does not, without more, pose a threat to Berea’s labor model legally or financially. It is clear that Berea cannot function without student labor: students maintain Berea’s campus and academic buildings, operate the college’s farm, its stores, dining services, and administrative offices. If Berea College truly cares for its students and takes its Great Commitments seriously, it ought to allow the students to have a free and fair election on whether to bargain collectively.
Caedmon Brewer is a 2024 Berea College Graduate and current graduate student at the University of Kentucky. Lee Myers is a 2020 Berea College Graduate and current law student at Belmont University.