Resident advisers at Cal State campuses want to unionize

Students walk across campus at the California State University East Bay campus on Feb Resident advisors across CSU campuses are seeking to unionize File photo by Anne Wernikoff CalMatters This article was produced by Capital Main It is published here with permission For Lynn Chan a -year-old nutrition major at Sacramento State University it s not her classes that occupy the majority of her time during the day or homework that keeps her up all night Instead as a resident adviser or RA in a large apartment-style dorm on campus she says she sometimes spends more than hours a week organizing events mediating conflicts and otherwise tending to the demands of fellow students I really love being an RA and getting to help new residents build society but the workload can be overwhelming noted Chan who gets free campus meals and university housing in exchange for her work We don t get enough encouragement That s why Chan and other RAs are seeking to unionize RAs across California State University s campuses and join a swell of unionization among resident advisers nationwide They are now waiting on CSU s response to a March petition to join an existing union with a deadline of April A response supporting the petition would likely product in the RAs being folded into the existing undergraduate novice union If CSU opposes the petition however state labor representatives would conduct an study and if necessary a hearing before issuing a final decision The RA petition comes after several months of organizing across CSU campuses building on a surge in undergraduate learner organizing in California and nationwide RAs interviewed by Capital Main cited a number of workplace improvements they would like to see which include more counseling and mental fitness information for those who have responded to traumatic incidents additional compensation in the form of a financial stipend and formal pathways for RAs to provide input and voice concerns In March the California State University Employees Union filed paperwork with the encouragement of RAs like Chan with California s General Employment Relations Board seeking to add RAs to the bargaining unit The union is by far the country s largest undergraduate worker union comprising roughly participant workers doing everything from facility maintenance to helping out in the library Formed in February after a two-year campaign it is affiliated with the Facility Employees International Union and is still bargaining its first contract Disclosure SEIU is a financial supporter of Capital Main A CSU spokesperson reported it was aware that the petition to add RAs to the bargaining unit had been filed and plans to file a response in accordance with PERB regulations RAs have been a core of campus workers that have been organizing mentioned William Herbert executive director of the National Center for the Examination of Collective Bargaining in Higher Learning and the Professions at Hunter College He pointed to an especially sharp increase in the last two years with new unions that include RAs forming at nine schools including Reed College Columbia University and the University of Pennsylvania with ongoing campaigns at Temple University and the University of Illinois Chicago The progress in RA organizing reflects the explosion of undergraduate candidate organizing on college campuses In alone the number of undergraduate unions jumped from to and the number of unionized students skyrocketed from to driven largely by the formation of the California State University Employees Union While RAs have much in common with other candidate workers they point out that they have a special vulnerability Their employer is effectively their landlord If I hadn t gotten the RA position I would have had to withdraw noted Chan who will be the first in her family to graduate from college This day if she wants to object to anything about her job she has to weigh that against the threat of losing free housing Studio apartments in Sacramento run from to a month A union would help us hold our supervisors accountable without worry or fear Chan mentioned For Blake Maxson an RA in his third year pursuing a biochemistry degree at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo St Patrick s Day weekend was a prime example of the pressures put on RAs Early in the quarter Maxson declared university management expanded RA responsibilities to include at least two three-hour shifts from March to checking participant IDs to make sure only dorm residents were on the premises Chosen shifts ran between midnight and a m the only added compensation was snacks and potential drinks The new shifts came right now before finals week Management loves to tell RAs You re a pupil first and an RA second Maxson declared But they have these expectations that we will put our RA responsibilities before our scholar responsibilities That severely impacts our ability to be academically accomplished There is a lot of stress to make sure the residents are doing well echoed Chan There is no sense of urgency when it comes to our trainee life Capital Main is an award-winning nonprofit publication that reports from California on the the bulk pressing economic environmental and social issues of our time including economic inequality conditions change healthcare care threats to democracy hate and extremism and immigration Copyright Capital Main