Bennington College United was recognized by Bennington College administration in February, 2024. The union is associated with AFT Vermont and has about 150 current members across staff and faculty.
Our Mission:
We are coming together to form a union of faculty, staff, and student workers to begin a frank
and open conversation about the crisis facing Bennington College and to work with partners in
every area of the College to find fair, equitable, and sustainable solutions that will help us thrive.
For this conversation to have any meaning, it must be conducted without any fear of retaliation
or retribution.
We are coming together to form a union of faculty, staff and student workers because the
instruments of shared governance divide us and leave power in the hands of the President and
the Board of Trustees.
We are coming together to form a union of faculty, staff and student workers to help build the
most open, progressive and supportive environment for teaching, learning, scholarly research,
artistic expression, and social action at Bennington College. Our community needs to heal in
order to go forward.
We are coming together to form a union of faculty, staff and student workers to protect the
rights of every member of the college community, especially those historically disadvantaged by
white supremacy, genocide, and heteropatriarchy, and those facing organized campaigns of
dehumanization by groups in power. This step means fighting for better working conditions for
our members, better living and learning conditions for our students, and a more just world for us
all.
We are coming together to form a union of faculty, staff and student workers in order to create
fair and inclusive bargaining platforms at Bennington that take into consideration the diversity of
our membership and our talents. Through this work, we seek to counterbalance the upper
administration’s and the Board’s disproportionate power in decision-making.
We are coming together to form a union of faculty, staff, and student workers to help save this
College we love for the next ninety years.