AS TUFTS REFUSES TO MEET RESIDENT ASSISTANTS’ DEMAND FOR PAY, RAs ARE AUTHORIZED TO STRIKE ON STUDENT MOVE-IN DAY
On Wednesday, the United Labor of Tufts Resident Assistants (ULTRA), represented by OPEIU Local 153, overwhelmingly voted in favor of authorizing a strike. On Friday, management refused to meet their demand of providing an economic counterproposal.
For Immediate Release
Saturday, August 26, 2023
Contact: Sam Heyne
Office and Professional Employees International Union, Local 153
952-457-1575
sheyne@opeiu-tristate.org
MEDFORD, MASSACHUSETTS – The United Labor of Tufts Resident Assistants (ULTRA), represented by the Office and Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU) Local 153, are set to begin a strike on Tuesday, August 29, after a negotiation session in which the university refused to make any response to their demand for wages as compensation for their work.
In a bargaining session on Friday morning, the university threatened to retaliate against the student workers, threatening to fire them, replace them, and take away their housing. Also during this session, the administration sent an email to the entire student body threatening retaliation against union members for engaging in their right to collective action. In response to this email, the union has filed an Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) charge with the NLRB.
ULTRA voted on the afternoon of Wednesday, August 23 to authorize a strike if the university fails to meet the union’s demand for wage compensation in the form of a stipend. The vote passed with 89% of ballots cast, and the union requested a bargaining session with administration along with a compensation offer that included wages.
Tufts University is a private research university located in Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts. The university employs students as Resident Assistants (RAs) in its on-campus residence halls, where they host community programming, maintain a weeknight and weekend crisis response line, and perform various administrative duties. RAs are also expected to arrive on campus three weeks early for training and move-in duties, both unpaid, prior to the start of the school year.
Tufts RAs won their NLRB election in December 2022 and have been in contract negotiations since February 2023. The university administration has repeatedly rejected the RAs’ proposals for wages in the form of a stipend. Up to this point, the only form of compensation RAs receive is on-campus housing during the academic year.
Based on a recent ULTRA membership survey, approximately 70% of RAs receive financial aid from Tufts, and a similar proportion work one or more jobs in addition to the RA role during the academic year.
"I work overnight shifts at the hospital in addition to holding three other jobs on campus and being an RA,” says Aria Ma, an ULTRA member and a junior in the Tufts dual degree program. “I spread myself too thin and I am still barely getting by. It's disappointing to see that Tufts doesn't care enough about us to provide a living wage."
ULTRA urges the university administration to come to the table with a bargaining date and a fair counter proposal that includes compensation in the form of a wage stipend.
"It is a shame that the administration's intransigence has brought us to a point of choosing between fair treatment and our commitment to our residents,” says ULTRA RA and Bargaining Committee member David Whittingham. “I sincerely hope that Tufts will return to the table with a reasonable compromise so that everyone can avoid the disruption that this strike will cause, but after half a year of bargaining in which the university has refused to offer any wages to among its most vital student workers, we've been left with virtually no other choice."
To support the ULTRA campaign for wages, RAs ask that supporters sign their petition to the university administration executives. To follow campaign updates and learn more ways to support, follow their Twitter and Instagram pages.
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