Alton A.J. Harmon has been announced as The New School’s vice president of labor relations, a new position created to ensure the alignment of labor relations initiatives with the university’s teaching and learning mission. 

“This new role and function were created in acknowledgment of the university’s long-standing commitment to nurturing strong partnerships with our employees and their labor representatives,” Mark Diaz, interim executive vice president for business and operations, wrote in an announcement sent to faculty on Monday, Sept. 30.

The New Student Workers Union (NewSWU), the group working to organize non-academic student workers, said in a statement that neither their members nor academic student workers unionized with SENS-UAW received any direct communications about the new role or Harmon’s appointment and have not been formally introduced to him since.

“The New School had nothing new to bring to the table. They have proposed separating On-Campus Student Employees (OCSE) and Federal Work Study students (FWS) into multiple units, a very explicitly classist and union-busting move,” NewSWU’s statement said, “Instead of funding another bloated salary to bust us, the New School might benefit more from giving us what student workers have demanded for years: recognition.” 

The first communication received by union members from Harmon was sent to ACT-UAW Local 7902, the local union SENS is a part of, on Oct. 7, stating that members of unions under contract could not participate in protests or walkouts during scheduled work hours. “Should employees engage in these unlawful acts, we ask that you remind them that such acts result in discipline, directives to immediately return to work, loss of pay, and other options provided by the NLRA the relevant collective bargaining agreement, and university policy,” Harmon wrote. 

The communication ended by stating that employees could participate in acts of protest outside of paid work hours and thanked ACT-UAW Local 7902 for ensuring “we can work together to ensure the fulfillment of our mission to educate students and to encourage positive labor relations.” 

Harmon has been a practicing attorney for 20 years and previously worked as general counsel for labor and employment at DB Schenker, a German rail operator specializing in logistics. 

Diaz also stated that Harmon began his career at Morgan, Lewis, and Bockius, an American International Law Firm specializing in Corporate Law, Labor and Employment, and Litigation, as well as Littler, Mendelson P.C., a US-based Law firm that mainly represents employers and specializes in labor and employment law which has been criticized for union busting in the past. 

Diaz’s announcement ended with an acknowledgment of Sonya Williams, vice president of human resources, and her team for “their dedication and effectiveness in leading our labor relations efforts over the past several years.”