Photo via SEIU Local 200UnitedANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y.—About 110 service and maintenance workers at Bard College voted overwhelmingly in early July to authorize a strike, as contract negotiations reached an impasse following the expiration of their contract at the beginning of the month. Environmental services workers currently start at $19.50 per hour. For buildings and grounds workers, the union proposed a 13.5% wage increase over three years, but the college countered with 6.5%. According to former organizer Chris Townsend, the union’s presence at Bard College was secured only after multiple failed organizing attempts. “After four organizing efforts were smashed by the Bard administration, the fifth push succeeded after a furious battle with Botstein in 1987,” Townsend said.