The Penn resident advisor union unanimously approved their contract this past Friday.
Credit: Abhiram JuvvadiPenn undergraduate and graduate resident advisor union members voted unanimously to ratify their first contract on Friday, one of the first RA union contracts in the country.
The new two-year contract will provide RAs with 150 meals, a $3,000 stipend — which will increase to $3,100 in the second year — and a $750 contract ratification payment for RAs who worked during the most recent spring semester. Prior to this contract, RAs received only a partial meal plan of 130 meals and a free room in exchange for 20 hours of work per week.
According to an Office and Professional Employees International Union Local 153 press release and Instagram post, RAs will also receive a grievance and arbitration procedure, support during the disciplinary process, and no losses in previous compensation, duties, or rights. The contract also states that there are no limits to having multiple campus jobs and no limits on striking during contract.
“It’s a relief,” 2016 Graduate School of Education graduate and OPEIU Local 153 organizer Scott Williams said. “I think it’s going to set things up really well for the next semester. But, it’s kind of funny because people are not working right now. It’s disappointing that it happened after the end of the semester.”
In addition, RAs will be able to meet with the Labor Management Committee to provide feedback about issues and concerns regarding their job. RAs — with the support of OPEIU Local 153 — can grieve any actions taken by Penn that violate the contract.
College Houses and Academic Services will also begin considering RA input when determining College House placements, such as when an RA wants to return to their housing from the previous year.
A supermajority of Penn RAs filed to unionize in March 2023 in response to being “undervalued and underpaid,” citing limitations of the meal plan and expectations to perform tasks that fall outside an RA’s job description.
In a 142-22 vote representing 75% of Penn’s nearly 220 RAs, Penn RAs voted to form a union in late September 2023. The National Labor Relations Board certified the formation of the union a week later. According to The Philadelphia Inquirer, this was the first RA union formed in the Philadelphia area.
During the first bargaining session in December, Williams told The Daily Pennsylvanian that they reached a tentative agreement on eight of the approximately 20 proposals made by the Penn RA union.
“You can imagine [that] in the first session, getting 40% of the contract agreed to felt like huge progress,” Williams said.
However, little progress had been made by March, prompting the Penn RA union to file a surface bargaining complaint against the University due to “endless delay tactics and disrespect” during the negotiation process. The petition received nearly 400 signatures.
Williams added that the University began negotiating again and provided a compensation proposal only after the RA union put pressure on Penn by filing charges, putting out a public petition, and holding a rally on May 8. 2024 College graduate and RA Conor Emery also spoke in front of the Philadelphia City Council on May 16.
“Following six months of negotiations, Penn is pleased to have reached an agreement on the first contract with the Office and Professional Employees International Union Local 153, which represents Penn’s graduate and undergraduate resident advisors,” a University spokesperson wrote in a statement to the DP. “We were notified by the union that the agreement was unanimously ratified, and we are looking forward to continued cooperation as we move into this next phase.”
According to Williams, the union’s next steps include training a group of union stewards who will continue to enforce the contract and educate members about the union.
At the end of the two-year contract, union members will discuss what improvements need to be made and elect a new bargaining committee to reenter the bargaining process.
“While this contract is a starting point for making the position more fair for RAs, the union hopes to gain more benefits in future contracts with the university,” Emery told the DP. “I also hope that other student workers on campus can take inspiration from what RAs have accomplished to organize their own unionization efforts moving forward.”
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