Non-Tenure-Track Faculty Are Striking at Wellesley College
For the past two weeks, non-tenure-track faculty at Wellesley College in Massachusetts have been on strike to fight for a first contract. Jacobin spoke to two members of the organizing committee who say the college is refusing to bargain in good faith.
Faculty and students on the picket line at Wellesley College in Wellesley, Massachusetts, on March 31, 2025. (Matthew J. Lee / Boston Globe via Getty Images)
On Thursday, March 27, non-tenure-track faculty at Wellesley College went on strike.
Wellesley, a women’s liberal arts college in Wellesley, Massachusetts, boasts such high-achieving alumnae as Hillary Rodham Clinton and Madeleine Albright. With its mission of educating “women who will make a difference in the world,” the college broadly presents itself as a progressive institution committed to feminist and social justice values. Its approach to bargaining a first contract with its non-tenure-track faculty, however, tells a different story.
Non-tenure-track faculty formed a union in 2024 affiliated with United Auto Workers called Wellesley Organized Academic Workers (WOAW-UAW). The union represents 30 percent of all faculty and 40 percent of all courses taught across the college. Despite a common perception that non-tenure-track faculty work exclusively in short-term positions, more than 40 percent of WOAW-UAW members have been teaching at Wellesley for more than ten years.
This article is for subscribers only. Please login or subscribe to access our full archives and beautiful print and digital magazine starting at just $3 a month.