2024 College graduate and United RAs member Conor Emery recently presented a resolution to city aimed at honoring and supporting union efforts at Penn.
Credit: Nathaniel Babitts2024 College graduate and former member of United RAs at Penn Conor Emery presented a resolution to Philadelphia's City Council to honor and support unions on Penn’s campus.
The group, along with other newly formed unions at Penn, was invited by Councilmember Nicolas O’Rourke to speak to the city council on May 16 about Penn’s union-busting tactics and to advocate for the resolution. According to United RAs at Penn, this resolution comes in response to Penn's failure to adequately compensate RAs and their bad faith bargaining tactics.
“What RAs do is indeed labor, and with a university with an endowment of over $20 billion, it is really mind-boggling that the university has told bargaining units with just dozens of workers that they’re unable to pay them a livable wage," Pallavi Rao, director of organizing and partnerships for Councilmember Nicolas O’Rourke, told The Daily Pennsylvanian.
The union also points to other grievances, including the unsafe working conditions RAs faced during the COVID-19 pandemic and the University requiring RAs to perform tasks that are outside of their job descriptions.
Rao explained that at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, resident advisors and graduate resident advisors helped students leave campus while also facing eviction. In the fall of 2020, RAs were “enlisted … to be public health monitors, putting them in vulnerable positions without adequate support.”
Emery told the DP that gaining respect from the University is a crucial goal for the union, pointing out that Penn identified RAs as student leaders instead of workers in the early stages of unionization.
The union’s progress sets a precedent for conditions not only at Penn, but other institutions as well, he said.
Rao elaborated on the significance, saying that “It is important to know that Penn is the city’s largest private employer. When you have a unionized workforce at the city’s largest private employer, it can elevate the work conditions across the city.”
In addition to advocating for fair compensation, promoting safe working conditions, and gaining respect from the University, the union also aims to ensure due process for RAs.
“I have talked to at least one person who believes that they were unfairly disciplined for something because they didn’t really have the evidence to know whether they did it or not or they didn’t go through the right channels, ” Emery said, adding that outlining a procedure for how the University disciplines RAs can prevent these situations.
The union has also proposed establishing a system where RAs can regularly meet with College House and Academic Services administrators throughout the school year. These meetings would focus on assessing what is going well, identifying areas for improvement, and promptly addressing any necessary changes.
City Council will also keep a close watch on the state of contract negotiations.
"There are thirteen other council members who joined as co-sponsors, which is more than just a vote; it is a signal that we are serious about the need for Penn to negotiate quickly in good faith," Rao said.
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