STATEMENT: MIT Campus Unions Stand in Solidarity with MIT Library Staff Amid Cuts
In November 2025, the MIT administration decided to close down half of its research libraries, including the Barker and Dewey locations in this coming year. These cuts threaten the livelihoods of over a dozen library staff members, half of which are union positions with AFSCME Local 2353. Closing down our libraries not only brings hardship to the impacted workers, it undermines our members’ ability to perform their research and teaching missions. These closures clearly undermine MIT’s commitment to “advance knowledge and educate students… for the betterment of humankind”.
While the current attacks on higher education are unprecedented, this is not the first time MIT management has chosen to eliminate campus resources for students instead of cutting administrative and capital project costs: the MIT administration previously enacted similar library cuts in 2009 in response to the 2008 financial crisis, and in 2023 cut union jobs by closing the Steam and Koch cafes. Rather than pause multimillion dollar capital projects for building renovations or reduce steep salaries of top administrators (several exceeding over half a million dollars), MIT management has consistently placed hardship on the workers and students who make this university run.
We – UE Local 256 (MIT GSU), SEIU 32BJ, and UNITE HERE Local 26 – unions representing about 4,000 workers on the MIT campus – stand in solidarity with the MIT Library Staff Union and call on MIT management to
Publicly communicate the impacts of all budget-cutting strategies pertaining to MIT Libraries, including
the number of workers laid off,
the number of positions removed,
the number of newly created positions intended to be filled, and
a list of teaching and research resources whose accessibility will decrease as a result of these changes;
Prioritize laid-off library workers through internal hiring mechanisms for positions which they are qualified for, such as those that relate to the libraries;
Proactively engage and negotiate with the union representatives of AFSCME Local 2353, in the decision-making of this process; and
Cease using the cover of unprecedented attack on higher education and funding pools as an excuse to undermine fair workplace benefits and protections.
As many of our unions prepare to renegotiate contracts with our employers, we call on the MIT administration to prioritize the working and learning conditions of workers and students.