Tufts RAs Declare Intent To Form Union, Ask University For Recognition

MEDFORD, MA —Tufts Resident Assistants (RAs) in the Office of Residential Life and Learning (ORLL) have announced their intent to unionize after months of planning and are asking the university to voluntarily recognize their union.

In a letter to University President Anthony Monaco, Director of Residential Life and Learning Christina Alch, and the Board of Trustees, members of United Labor of Tufts Resident Assistants (ULTRA) said that over 80 percent of the RAs have signed union authorization cards and are ready to begin collectively bargaining with the university.

"Despite the valuable work we do for the Tufts community, RAs continue to receive no wages or any fringe benefits beyond a room credit and are required to attend 80 hours of unpaid training annually,” ULTRA wrote. "To cope with this inadequate compensation, many of us seek second or third jobs on- or off-campus to meet our needs. RAs have further experienced a lack of flexibility in scheduling around training and RA Council meetings, while in turn being expected to be readily flexible to the requests of ORLL. Resident Assistants have little to no say over our contracts, which contain ambiguities and are subject to unforeseen changes at the discretion of ORLL."

"These concerns, along with the insufficiency of existing avenues for change, have thus led us to pursue unionization as the most reliable avenue through which to achieve genuine change,” they added.

The RAs said that union representation would allow them to take a leadership role in the workplace, changing their position and the Tufts residential experience for the better.

"As Resident Assistants, we know that the work that we do is vital to the operations of the university and the support system it provides for its students, and so we are unionizing not only to address issues in the work that we do, but also to preserve its best aspects,” they said. "Through the collective bargaining process, we seek to ensure that we can more fully take pride in the work we do for our residents.”

ULTRA is asking the university to respond to their letter by Wednesday, Nov. 16 at noon.

"We look forward to Tufts doing the right thing, respecting the will of its student workers, and recognizing our union, and we are eager to begin a productive relationship with Tufts administration,” the union said.