On Wednesday, the Emerson College Staff Union held a bicoastal action in support of five Emerson Los Angeles staff members seeking to join the union. After voting to unionize in late July of last year, the staff blamed the college for prolonging the negotiation process.

To show support for the ELA staff members, staff on the Boston and Los Angeles campuses joined in a “coordinated Valentine’s Day action.” Staff members wore red to show solidarity with their peers and drank Coca-Cola, referencing their request to be granted a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA).

While union negotiations continue, staff members have formally requested that the college’s human resources department apply a 3.3% COLA, a wage increase intended to keep pay aligned with inflation. HR has rejected the request, stating that wage increases must be addressed through the full bargaining process and would not be granted outside contract talks.

Union and non-union staff members were all granted COLA raises, except the five members in ELA, according to the union. The college did not comment on the COLA raises in their communication with The Beacon.

“We want to bring attention to the fact that we voted seven months ago to join the contract and [the college] has refused to meet with us and is not providing COLA raises,” said Daniel Sotelo-Reiner, a senior events and IT support administrator at ELA who voted to unionize, in an interview with The Beacon. “We might just be five staff members, but we’re really a part of 200 staff in Boston.”

The five staff members at ELA are the first to unionize outside the Boston campus. 

“We hope to demonstrate that this is an important issue right now, that it needs attention, more attention than we believe it’s received from management,” said Dan Crocker, a coordinator of electronic resources on Emerson’s Boston campus and chair of the staff union. “These people need to get paid ASAP.”

In Boston, a small group of about a dozen staff members gathered during their lunch breaks in the Iwasaki Library CoLab to write “Valentines” to Emerson HR. 

“We’re not asking for chocolates — just cost of living,” one card read. “Roses are red, violets are blue, LA is expensive — you know it’s true!” read another. 

The group of five staff members at ELA also met on the outdoor second-floor terrace, performing a similar letter-writing action. 

The current dispute follows months of organizing and bargaining efforts. After the vote to unionize, ELA staff sought inclusion in the Boston Union’s collective bargaining agreement (CBA). A CBA is a legally binding contract between the union and employer that governs wages, benefits, and workplace policies rather than negotiating a new standalone agreement. 

Union officials said that after weeks without a response, Emerson’s HR department eventually agreed to begin bargaining in January. Later that month, HR met with union representatives and objected to the use of Boston’s CBA for ELA members, stating that the ELA unit was too structurally different from the Boston group and would need to negotiate an entirely separate contract.

Both the union and the college told The Beacon that they are willing to negotiate in good faith. Both parties blame each other for the delays. 

“As always, and as consistently demonstrated in the past, the College remains committed to bargaining in good faith and adhering to all applicable laws with the intention of reaching an agreement with this group of employees,” a college spokesperson wrote in a statement to The Beacon. “The College has been engaged in many conversations with SEIU leadership about these contract negotiations and has clearly and repeatedly explained that we need to be cognizant of both California and Massachusetts laws and regulations, which operate very distinctly.”

Sotelo-Reiner independently reviewed all 34 articles of the Boston CBA, concluding that about eight would only require minor language changes that reflect differences in job titles, departmental structures, and campus-specific policies. He said that two to six articles may require thorough deliberations on topics such as personal days and insurance. 

The union’s lawyers are now preparing a proposed amendment to the existing contract, saying that incorporation would require technical adjustments rather than a fully separate agreement. 

Union officials said that it is especially important for the COLA raises to be granted at a time when staff are feeling increased strain due to layoffs. 

Sotelo-Reiner became an Emerson employee in the summer of 2023, a year after graduating from Emerson with a degree in media arts production. Unlike positions at Emerson’s Boston campus, ELA staff members have a wide range of responsibilities due to the smaller staff and campus size. Sotelo-Reiner’s role includes assisting with IT issues, overseeing the equipment distribution center, coordinating events, and space rentals. 

A year after he joined, Emerson laid off 10 employees, two of whom were ELA staff members. Staffing has been precarious ever since, Sotelo-Reiner said, with some voluntarily leaving, and 30 staff members being laid off this past summer. 

“The staff in LA are working very hard for [students’] success; however, they have felt very strained by the changes that have been placed on them and the lack of support from the administration,” Crocker said. “We know that the staff supporting them are seriously strained, frustrated, burnt out, and worried about their ability to meet their own standards of success.”

Reduced staffing meant additional workload for Sotelo-Reiner and his colleagues. Compared to fall 2024, his ticket number — the number of IT-related tasks — more than doubled to 136% this past fall.  

This has left Sotelo-Reiner swamped in work and drowning in a sea of uncertainties about his job. Joining the union, he said, would offer staff members “something concrete” to hold on to. 

“When you are not in union, everything is up to the institution’s discretion,” he said. 

Deputy News Editor Catalina Mena contributed to the reporting of this story.