United RAs at Penn at a rally on March 31, 2023.
Credit: Abhiram JuvvadiUnited RAs at Penn has accused the University of enacting union-busting tactics against the newly-formed Resident Advisor union.
URAP filed an Unfair Labor Practice Charge with the National Labor Relations Board on Aug. 12. In an email, they alleged that the University is suppressing the ability of the newly-unionized GRAs to seek other on-campus employment via tracking their hours in Workday.
Currently, student employees are not allowed to work more than 20 hours per week in on-campus jobs when classes are in session. URAP alleges that on Aug. 5, Penn sent an email to the GRAs informing them that RA jobs now count towards that 20-hour-per-week Workday maximum and flagging them for additional on-campus employment surpassing that limit.
URAP claims that Penn has not previously tracked GRA hours and has instituted the policy to discourage members of the group not only from seeking other employment but also from being employed as an RA.
The Unfair Labor Practice Charge aims to contest this tracking of hours through Workday. URAP is also filing a class action grievance for each RA affected by the University’s alleged changes to engaging with the time and labor of the GRAs, writing that they “are prepared to go through the grievance and arbitration process to protect [GRAs’] rights.”
URAP has two demands for Penn: that Penn “[r]espect our contract - stop unilaterally changing our agreement!” and that Penn “[c]ease and desist tracking of (G)RA hours in Workday!”
“Penn has a good working relationship with the Office and Professional Employees International Union and will continue to address any issues and foster communication within the designated process,” a University spokesperson wrote in a statement to The Daily Pennsylvanian. “We are pleased to have our resident advisors and graduate resident advisors back on campus.”
In the past, URAP says, Penn did not track GRA hours via Workday. The email adds that the GRAs’ contract notes that "Hours are not calculated or kept track of as it is known that the efforts of community and relationship building can not be calculated."
URAP says that protection against GRA hours being logged in Workday and being counted towards that twenty-hour maximum was not negotiated in the union contract, and that the union has worked hard to “protect [their right] to have multiple jobs on campus.”
“It is clear that Penn is acting vindictively to undermine our union and its significant accomplishments,” URAP wrote in the email.
URAP initially voted to unionize in September 2023 and reached an agreement to enter negotiations in October of the same year. The group began negotiating with Penn in December 2023 and filed a surface bargaining complaint with the NLRB in March, accusing the University of delaying the negotiations process and disrespecting the students involved. In May, the group held a rally and alleged continuous “bad faith” bargaining with Penn officials.
In June, URAP members unanimously voted to ratify their first union contract, marking one of the first RA union contracts in the country. The two-year contract increases the meal plan and stipends for RAs and GRAs.
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