Student Workers at NYU kicked off its negotiations with the university on Friday, demanding that senior leadership compensate its resident assistants by establishing a stipend to mitigate disparities in their housing and job responsibilities.
Representatives of the bargaining committee, consisting of eight RAs across various residence halls, discussed SWAN’s priorities in a meeting with lawyers and administrators, including Dean of Students Rafael Rodriguez and Executive Director of Residential Life Kate Baier. While the union did not propose any specific articles to include in the contract, committee members told WSN that they will present concrete demands in the upcoming bargaining session on April 1.
Gallatin senior Mickey Morandante, a member of SWAN’s organizing and bargaining committees, said a key demand was that NYU pay RAs with stipends, rather than just refund their housing and meal plans. She explained that a stipend could more accurately reflect the inconsistencies in the job, created by differences in each dorm hall, such as room costs — which can range from $5,120 to $13,360 per semester — and the number of residence hall events that they are required to organize.
“What we really want is to have a clear limit on these inconsistencies so that no one is doing too much and no one is overburdened and spread so thin, simply due to this chance of placement,” Morandante said in an interview with WSN. “We want not just a stipend, but an equitable one. We want to find a way that those with worse housing get more money, and those with more residents and more expectations are also compensated for that.”
Just before the Friday meeting, over a dozen students, faculty and UAW organizers rallied outside Bobst Library in support of SWAN. Morandante and Jacob Remes, a representative for NYU’s contract faculty union, gave speeches to the small crowd about the importance of RAs on campus and the union’s demands for greater equity and transparency in the role.
After winning the majority vote to unionize in September, SWAN has referenced RA unions at other universities as they develop their own proposals for a contract. Tandon junior and bargaining committee member Ollie, who requested only to go by her first name due to safety concerns, cited that RAs at Boston University recently won a $1,700 semesterly stipend and Duke University’s student workers each receive a $1,500 yearly stipend with an additional $13,000 to cover housing.
Bargaining committee members asked that NYU affirm that the RA position will not be eliminated in this process, following “multiple instances across halls” in which residence hall staff reportedly told RAs that the university will disband the job if they move forward with unionization efforts.
“The university’s aim is to achieve a fair agreement that recognizes the RAs’ contributions to the university community,” NYU spokesperson John Beckman said in a statement to WSN. “We are pleased to have met the members of SWAN’s bargaining committee and to have begun the bargaining process.”
SWAN also raised concerns to administrators that many students lost some or all of their financial aid and work study eligibility after becoming RAs. Ollie explained that because the current compensation system decreases students’ estimated cost of attendance, it is processed by NYU’s Office of the Bursar as a lower financial need and results in a reduction of other types of aid.
Last semester, SWAN filed an unfair labor practice complaint against NYU for an alleged violation of its neutrality agreement with the union — however, it withdrew the complaint in early January. Morandante said that SWAN organizers were concerned the complaint could jeopardize their union after President Donald Trump took office.
Days after his inauguration, Trump fired a member of the National Labor Relations Board — which certifies groups to unionize and investigates labor rights violations — leaving it short-staffed and unable to take any action. The NLRB member, Gwynne Wilcox, was reinstated on Thursday after a federal judge ruled that Trump did not have the authority to fire her. Several workers’ groups at U.S. universities, including Dartmouth College, withdrew their unionization proposals ahead of the inauguration with concerns that the Trump administration could hurt their efforts.
“We love being RAs, but we are stretched too thin, and it’s time for NYU to recognize our labor,” Morandante said to the group of supporters outside Bobst. “It’s time to make the RA role enjoyable, fair and sustainable. Not just for RAs right now, but for every RA who comes after us.”
Contact Aashna Miharia at [email protected].
