Student Workers at NYU now officially represents 280 resident assistants on campus, following a majority vote to unionize earlier this week — the latest development in the group’s monthslong efforts to negotiate a contract with the university reflecting improved working conditions for RAs.
At the election, which took place on Tuesday and Wednesday, 58.6% of eligible student workers voted, with 158 for and two against. The vote to unionize now allows RAs to begin the collective bargaining process with NYU for demands such as transparency in job responsibilities and increased standardization in compensation, similar to the university’s existing contract faculty and graduate student worker unions.
“The most striking [observation] was the difference in living accommodations, especially since that is largely factored into how we’re compensated,” Gallatin senior Ariana Juarez, an organizing committee member of SWAN, told WSN. “I live alone in Gramercy — I have a studio with a kitchen and the bathroom — but I’ve heard across other halls some people live with multiple suitemates and some people live in very tight quarters. Their rooms are monetarily, by NYU, valued as less. That would only mean that their compensation is less.”
Last spring, SWAN delivered a letter with almost 100 signatures to NYU president Linda Mills and the board of trustees, demanding university recognition by April 23. Mills requested an extension to the deadline, prompting the group — which had already garnered support from a majority of RAs on campus — to file a petition with the National Labor Relations Board for approval to hold an election.
While NYU had previously agreed to maintain neutrality in the unionization process, the win came after the union charged the university with unfair labor practice less than a month ago. CAS senior Ian Askie, an organizing committee member of SWAN, told WSN that one organizer “had an interaction that was in violation of the neutrality agreement.”
“In the interaction they had with a professional staff member, they had heard anti-union rhetoric,” Askie said. “Essentially, that was a way of influencing their vote to not be in favor of the union.”
NYU spokesperson John Beckman said in a statement that the university is “looking into” the alleged violation of the neutrality agreement and is “pleased” that SWAN was able to hold its successful election.
“It appears that the exchange at the heart of the complaint involved an individual represented by another union and one of the resident assistants,” Beckman said. “We do not believe there is a basis for asserting that the university violated its commitment to neutrality.”
Askie said that SWAN will update its demands now that the group formally represents all RAs, who are compensated with free housing and meal plans for responsibilities such as upholding residence hall policies, resolving conflicts between residents and organizing community events. When the union was publicly announced in April, it outlined requests for NYU to recognize RAs as university employees and compensate them with a set stipend per semester rather than by refunding housing and meal plan costs, as well as an additional stipend for covering holiday shifts.
“I’m overwhelmed with joy about our election because that means that now there’s an entity to negotiate with NYU,” Juarez said. “If we accomplish anything, it is this. I’m really happy, but the momentum has to keep going, and I’m excited to see what happens.”
Contact Aashna Miharia at [email protected].
