The Rhode Island School of Design and the Teamsters Local 251 union representing the school’s 62 custodians, groundskeepers and movers reached a tentative agreement on a six-year contract Monday afternoon, according to union representatives and an email to the school community from RISD president Crystal Williams.
This tentative agreement follows an indefinite strike and picket line that began April 3, The Herald previously reported. Representatives from the union and RISD first met April 13 to discuss a potential proposal and reached the tentative agreement Monday, according to the email from Williams.
Union representatives will present the tentative agreement to bargaining members for a vote Tuesday afternoon. If a majority of members vote to accept the agreement, they will return to work on Wednesday, according to Local 251 Business Agent Tony Suazo.
There will be no demonstrations on RISD’s campus tomorrow, and members of the union present at negotiations are optimistic that this will conclude the strike, according to Suazo and John Cabral, a RISD grounds caretaker who has been present at negotiations. While they could not disclose all the details of the proposal at the time, the contract will be publicized after the vote of the members if it is ratified.
Wages were the main emphasis of the demonstrations in the past few weeks. “The school did make a big move upward” on wages, Cabral said.
The tentative, six-year contract will also include retroactive payments for some members of the union, according to Suazo.
“I believe that the group is going to be very happy with this agreement,” Suazo said. “I believe that they got a lot of good things in it.”
Cabral and Suazo emphasized the significance of student, staff and community support in contract negotiations.
“We are truly grateful for all the help that we got during the two weeks that we were there from everybody, especially the students,” Suazo said. “There are not enough ‘thank you’s’ to go around.”
“(This contract) would have never happened without the support from this community, especially the students. They really came through for us,” Cabral said. “This was as much of a victory for them as for us, and we'll never forget that.”
Ashley Cai is a Senior Staff Writer from Los Altos, California covering the staff and student labor beat. She is a Brown-RISD Dual Degree studying computer science, IAPA and graphic design. She is also a member of The Herald's Tech Team.
