Bucknell RAs organize their union with OPEIU 153

LEWISBURG, PA

On Monday, March 4, over 77% of the 110 Residential Advisers at Bucknell University submitted a petition to the National Labor Relations Board and acting university co-presidents Margot Vigeant and Scott Rosevear, announcing the formation of their union with OPEIU Local 153 and demanding voluntary recognition of their union by the university.

Bucknell University Resident Advisers (RAs) are undergraduate student workers who have been hired by the university to live in the dorms and support the health and safety of anywhere between 15-85+ residents. This job entails a near 24/7 commitment to being the point of first contact for students at the university and requires RAs to work as everything from hall decorators to first responders.

For the past several years, RAs have been bringing forward concerns and requests to Bucknell Residential Education (ResEd) and have been met with inaction. Currently, RAs at Bucknell University are not paid for their work; the cost of the dorm room they are assigned is covered and a 100-dollar stipend per semester is given if they remain in good standing. For years, a meal plan option has been proposed but never delivered by ResEd or the board of trustees. 

Each year, all Bucknell RAs attend over 90 hours of mandatory, unpaid training outside the academic year. Additionally, RAs are expected to work around 20 hours a week throughout the semester doing rounds, creating bulletin boards, hall programming, and attending staff meetings. Despite all of this effort, most RAs on campus have to work additional jobs on top of their RA role because their labor is not adequately compensated by Bucknell. Furthermore, many students find themselves losing pieces or large chunks of their financial aid package to work this job, which means that not only is RA compensation unfair but unequal for RAs doing the same amount of work. 

“Every RA on campus dedicates hundreds of hours each semester to meetings, training, community-building events, and other resident situations that occur at all hours of the day and night. This job, while an important one, is underappreciated and underpaid by the university. RAs deserve compensation that matches the importance of the job we perform. It is vitally important that the RAs of Bucknell come together so that our voices can be heard and our needs can be met. We need to have the ability to advocate for ourselves and together the Bucknell Residential Advisers Union can accomplish this.” - Grace Garvey, Bucknell Resident Adviser

“The lack of transparency in the location assignments for RAs and the sudden added load to our duties has been especially frustrating. I am both comforted and disturbed by the fact that so many RAs share similar sentiments. This goes to show that Residential Education does not prioritize nor care for its employees as they say they do. Changes must be made so future RAs have better working conditions and are properly compensated for their work.” - Hannah Kim, Bucknell Resident Adviser

Bucknell RAs are part of a growing movement of Resident Advisers to organize a union with OPEIU Local 153, joining RAs at Wesleyan, Barnard, Fordham, UPenn, and Tufts who have all unionized in the past few years.