A Message from the Kenyon Farm

Dear Kenyon Community,

Today we are joining CAs, ATs, LBIS workers, and Writing Center Consultants on an indefinite strike over unfair labor practices. When we went on strike in March in the wake of the administration’s decision to dismantle the residential program, a majority of each of these workforces joined us on the picket line. Now, we are standing with them in turn. We share striking workers’ frustration with an administration that does not listen to them or value their input. At the farm, we too have been retaliated against and subjected to top-down decisions made with little regard for their implications in our work, particularly the decision to end the residential program. Despite numerous attempts on our part to come to a solution that benefits all parties, the administration has still made no indication of being willing to work with us and remains intent on dismantling our home and workplace. It is clear to us that the only long-term solution to these issues, for us and for all student workers, is union representation. To this end, we urge the administration to stop obstructing the path to a recognition election and work with K-SWOC to allow all student workers to vote.

We don’t want to be on strike. We wish that we didn’t have to be. But the administration has left us and other student workers with no alternative. We call on senior staff and the Board of Trustees to resolve their unfair labor practices and finally engage with our demands as equals. Until they do so, we are unable to continue our work.

For the duration of the strike, the Farm is closed to visitors and there will be no volunteer hours. If you were planning to come to our volunteer hours tomorrow, we encourage you to meet us outside Ransom Hall at 5:00 to participate in our picket line instead.

Striking is a significant commitment, and to sustain a strike requires the financial resources to support student workers who depend on their income from the positions they are striking. Please consider donating to the Strike Fund to make it possible for us to stay out on strike until the administration rectifies its unfair labor practices.

Sincerely,

The Kenyon Farmers