"There's a number of issues that the RAs have brought up," explained UAW organizer Seth Hemond. "Across the board, they're all concerned about wages and compensation. They're on call whenever they're in their dorms, and they don't get paid for that. Also, they want a just disciplinary system."
The RAs' union, if formed, would be the first labor union representing undergraduate employees. Numerous graduate student unions have been organized, including the Graduate Employee Organization, which represents UMass Assistant Residence Directors.
According to Hemond, two-thirds of all UMass RAs have already signed the petition, and additional RAs are continuing to sign. In order to form a union, a majority of the RAs must sign the petition.
University officials have taken a firm stance against the unionization of the RAs.
"The administration does not support the effort to unionize, and will follow established procedures expressing our position on the petition for recognition to the state Labor Relations Commission," said UMass Chancellor David K. Scott in a statement made last week. He stressed that, "Undergraduates at the university are clearly students."
"The RAs have a right to unionize," Hemond said. "We've been discussing the matter with [Associate Chancellor and associate provost for development and faculty relations] Susan Pearson."
The state's Labor Relations Commission is currently looking into the legality of the students' unionization, though Hemond cites precedent for the motion's success. "In a 1975 case started at UMass, the Massachusetts Labor Relations Commission granted [student] employees the right to unionize. The Chancellor's arguments will not hold up. There is no difference between [a student] employee and another employee."
Despite being on call whenever they are in their rooms, as per their contracts, RAs complain that their paychecks reflect only 20 hours of work each week.
Next year, each of UMass' 360 RAs will be paid $5,032, about $143 weekly. From that amount, however, the cost of a single room, valued at $3,286, will be deducted. The RAs' total take-home pay will be $1,746, or about $50 per week.
"They keep inflating the cost of a room and say that they increase our pay to keep up," said Ann-Marie Watt, a pro-union UMass RA. "We just end up taking home the same amount every week."
"If a student is on financial aid, he loses all of that aid if he wants to be an RA," Hemond said. "At a state university, that's just an unfair policy."
The RAs also complain of unfair disciplinary proceedings. RAs can be fired without the typical disciplinary process that applies to other student employees.
"Under the current system," Hemond explained, "RAs can be fired without warning. They get seven days to find replacement housing. The University doesn't even guarantee that housing will be available."
RAs voice their complaints to the RA Grievance Committee, run by the University's housing office. Through unionization, RAs believe that they can have more say in disciplinary matters, according to Hemond.
Last week, pro-union RAs staged a protest outside the UMass student union. They complained that they were not paid for their training period and that the administration frequently changes the terms of their contract. According to protesters, the administration asks RAs to be on duty on days not originally specified in the contract.
Lindsay Werner, a freshman at UMass, said that she was swayed by the recent protest. "I was just walking by and I saw them protesting. I thought that it was really interesting. I was thinking of being an RA before, but now, after all this, I don't know."