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October 7, 2025

Thomas College faculty votes for union, doubles down on demands

Thomas College campus File Photo / Courtesy of Thomas College Thomas College is a private liberal arts college based in Waterville.
By Renee Cordes

Two weeks after the majority of Thomas College faculty members voted to unionize, union leaders are doubling down on demands related to workplace policies and pressing the administration to engage in dialogue.

Jono Anzalone of Thomas College
Photo / Courtesy of subject
Jono Anzalone

“Forming a union is really a first step,” Jono Anzalone, an assistant professor of economics at the Waterville private liberal arts college and one of the union’s organizing committee members, told Mainebiz.

Out of 42 Thomas College faculty members who were eligible to vote, 80% voted to unionize with the Maine Education Association.

This spring, faculty members laid out a host of concerns in a pair of memos addressed to Jeannine Diddle Uzzi, who succeeded Laurie Lachance as president in November 2024. Faculty members also passed a unanimous vote of "no confidence" against Uzzi in July, according to Anzalone.

He said that current grievances stem from a breakdown in shared governance and from recent unilateral changes that have altered longstanding working conditions without faculty input or adherence to the faculty handbook.

For example, Anzalone contends there was no consultation with faculty about the reduction in hybrid and online offerings this spring from 20 to 30 to less than five, which resulted in decreased enrollment. 

Union members also object to a March announcement declaring that the college be the primary employer of faculty and staff.

With more than 30% of faculty working outside the classroom in consultancies and other professional activities, Anzano contends that the new policy “will have an adverse impact on the faculty, but most importantly follow direct contrast with the implicit contract that we signed as faculty members.”

As of Tuesday, there was “still no outreach from the administration to the faculty body" weeks after the vote to unionize.

“The union gives us a formal mechanism for accountability — and a structure that requires the administration to engage in good-faith dialogue,” he noted. “That said, much of what faculty are waiting for now is to see how the board of trustees responds to the concerns that have been repeatedly raised over the past year. 

“The hope is that this moment opens the door for collaboration, not confrontation, and leads to a stronger, more sustainable future for both the college and its students.”

Thomas College response

In a statement emailed to Mainebiz on Monday, a spokesperson for Thomas College said that the school’s provost is in regular contact with faculty leadership.

“Last Thursday, we notified the full employee community about the faculty’s decision to pursue collective bargaining in a regular campus communication,” the statement said. “In that message, we indicated that the college looks forward to continuing to work collaboratively with our faculty within this new framework.”

The spokesperson also noted that before any further action can be taken, the election results must first be certified by the National Labor Relations Board.

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