After Rev. Brian J. Shanley’s announcement to unrecognize the St. John’s University chapter of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), union members took it upon themselves to organize a rally and press conference in retaliation. 

“I was shocked, I was devastated, but I can’t say I was entirely surprised.” Acting President of the St. John’s AAUP Sophie Bell said in an interview with The Torch. “Within five hours, we were having an emergency town hall deciding what we were gonna do, what’s the plan?” She continued. “We have been so energized by this outrageous act,” Bell concluded.

Faculty, staff and students gathered in front of the D’Angelo Center on Feb. 25 from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. to show their support for the union’s efforts and express their discontent with the actions of the University administration. 

The crowd heard from a diverse group of speakers, including professors from each college on campus, undergrad students representing their clubs and graduate students who have had their fellowships cancelled.

Throughout the crowd, there were signs that read “UNION BUSTING IS UNHOLY.” Crowds were passing around flyers with helpful links and basketballs adorned with union information.

The balls symbolized the faculty’s growing frustration with the administration’s perceived consistent priority of basketball over other parts of the University.

The sentiment amongst the speakers was that the administration had overstepped by ending negotiations on the recent collective bargaining agreement. 

“They keep taking things away from us, they keep stripping things away from us little by little,” College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences Representative Hira Shafeeq said. “I was so disheartened because the President is underestimating all of us. They don’t think we have the patience, the time and the skill to organize,” she concluded.

“Upon hearing the news that they were busting the unions for professors and doing these blatant violations of worker rights, I think it’s something that needs to be addressed,” St. John’s graduate and adjunct faculty member Daniel Orozco said in an interview with The Torch.

Speakers from allied university AAUPs were scheduled to deliver remarks at the rally, but Public Safety prevented them from participating. 

The union composed a petition urging the administration to return to the bargaining table that garnered over 2,000 signatures. The rally marched towards the Tobin School of Business to hand-deliver the petition to the Board of Trustees. 

The group made their way to Bent Hall, chanting multiple messages about the importance of their fight for union power and freedom in higher education. 

Public Safety prevented the union from entering the building and offered to take the petition on behalf of the Board of Trustees, but the rally declined.

Union representatives did not take this rejection as a sign of defeat but instead acknowledged how today was a meaningful step in the right direction. 

“To see this many people standing together, standing up for themselves, ready to say we’ve had a 56-year-long right to collectively bargain and you can’t take it away from us, is very powerful,” said Bell. 

“I really hope that Father Shanley is gonna come back to the bargaining table, as he should, and they will recognize our decades-long contract and that the Board of Trustees will meet with faculty unions,” she stated in an interview with The Torch.

For St. John’s faculty, this rally is an important part of their bargaining story, as they continue to work without a contract for the 240th straight day.