RA Union Information

On November 18, 2022, the National Labor Relations Board conducted a secret ballot election that resulted in the majority of Resident Assistants who voted, voting in favor of union representation for Resident Assistants. The College and the Union will now engage in a collective bargaining process. 

In this process, the union and the College’s bargaining committees will work to reach a collective bargaining agreement.  When an agreement is reached, a vote will be held by bargaining unit members to ratify the agreement into a final Collective Bargaining Agreement. The agreement is made effective by both parties after a vote for ratification by RAs who belong to the bargaining unit. (updated 1.17.23)

Barnard College administrators began by communicating with a subset of the RAs who led the effort to seek union representation since their original petition and met with them in person on Thursday, Oct. 13. During that meeting, the College requested that if students decide to pursue union representation, they engage in a fair and democratic election process, in which all involved student voices can be heard. 
An election was overseen by the National Labor Relations Board on November 18, 2022, which led to the formation of a union that represents all Barnard RAs. The College and the Union will now engage in a collective bargaining process. (updated 1.17.23)

The election was held on Friday, November 18, 2022. The College is proud of all the students who participated in the democratic process. (updated 11.18.22) 

The College cares deeply about the well-being of our student leaders and all our students. As student leaders, RAs play an important role in shaping the culture of residential life at the College. They help fellow students acclimate to living on campus and feel a strong sense of belonging in our residence halls. For all these reasons, the College seeks a mutually respectful, productive, fair, and democratic dialogue on how Barnard can best support RAs in their duties and in their own development as leaders. We encouraged every eligible student to participate in the election process so that all student voices could be heard.

Now that the election is over and the RAs have voted to unionize, Barnard will be following the rules and procedures involved in collective bargaining, and we’ll have more information in the coming weeks. (updated 11.18.22)

The NLRB certified the union as the exclusive bargaining representative of the Barnard RAs. The union will now become the exclusive representative for the bargaining unit’s members with respect to terms and conditions of employment. The first meeting between the College and the union to negotiate a collective bargaining agreement will take place on Thursday, January 19, 2023.  By law, the College is prohibited from negotiating with the Barnard RAs individually and precluded from making any future changes to the terms and conditions of their roles without engaging in the collective bargaining process with the union. Examples of terms and conditions include hours worked, the ability to change scheduled work days, and taking time off for sick leave or mental health days.
The union and the College’s bargaining committees will work to reach an agreement on various aspects of the RAs’ terms and conditions of employment, which are then accepted and approved by both parties. The agreement is made effective by both parties after a vote for ratification by RAs who belong to the bargaining unit. (updated 1.17.23)
 

Barnard College has a proud history of working collaboratively with the four labor unions on our campus. Members of our community should never fear retaliation from the College. Barnard remains committed to providing an environment free from unlawful discrimination, harassment, or retaliation.

Barnard upholds the responsibility to create an environment where information is easily exchanged, and there is a free flow of ideas. Because the best outcomes typically result from open and candid discussions that represent a diversity of perspectives, our students, faculty, staff, and other members of Barnard’s broader community are encouraged to come together to discuss their interests and concerns, including matters that relate to student leadership roles on our campus. The College also respects the rights of those who choose not to participate in discussions. 

Barnard seeks to ensure that we prioritize and support students as members of a distinctive educational community, in keeping with the College’s mission.

Collective bargaining is the process by which the College will negotiate with the Union the terms and conditions of employment for all Resident Assistants in the bargaining unit. The parties’ agreement will be memorialized in a written document known as a collective bargaining agreement or labor contract. (added 11.18.22)

A union is a legal entity that represents a group of workers, often in a trade or profession, who have been recognized by their employer or by the National Labor Relations Board as the representative of all employees in the group. A union negotiates collective bargaining agreements with employers of dues-paying members, detailing their terms and conditions of employment.

The U.S. NLRA (29 U.S.C. §§ 151-169) was enacted by Congress in 1935 in an era when there were no employment-related legal rights. The NLRA does not promote or discourage unions, but rather gives workers the right to choose and the process for making the choice. The NLRA is overseen by a federal agency called the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).

The National Labor Relations Board is an independent federal agency that oversees the administration of the National Labor Relations Act, including the election process used by workers to decide whether or not to be represented by a union.

The legal process begins with a filing at the NLRB requesting an election. The petition must be supported by signatures from at least 30% of the workers in the potential bargaining unit, or group to be represented. The NLRB will next schedule an election, at which point each person in the voting group can vote yes for the union or no to remain union-free. This is a secret ballot election, so all voters (whether or not they signed for the election) can make their own decision.

An election overseen by the NLRB is the opportunity for those in the proposed group to exercise their personal choice on the issue of whether to be represented by the union or not. The vote is conducted by secret ballot, so votes are anonymous. If a majority of those who participate in the election vote yes for the union, the union will exclusively represent everyone within the unit, including those who choose to vote in opposition or do not vote.

Once the election was scheduled, the College shared information on the date, time, location, and manner of the secret ballot election.

Those included in the group to be represented by the union were encouraged to exercise the right to vote and make personal choices about union representation. (updated 11.18.22)

There was a secret-ballot election held on Friday, November 18, 2022. As the College shared at the October 13th meeting with the RAs, the College wanted to enter into an election agreement with the OPEIU to ensure a free and fair election would be held. The College has entered into such an agreement with the OPEIU through the NLRB. (updated 11.18.22)

Representatives from the NLRB will oversee the election process. The election will be conducted in accordance with well-established NLRB rules to ensure the election is conducted in a fair and impartial manner.  As part of the NLRB election process, both the College and the OPEIU will have an equal number of observers at the election location to help ensure that eligible voters have a fair and equal opportunity to express their choice freely and in secret.

The election observers will find a voter’s name on the voter list, notify the NLRB representative that the voter’s name has been found, and check the voter’s name off the list.  The NLRB representative will then provide the voter with the voter’s ballot. The election observers will help monitor the election process and observe the vote count. 

Eligible voters will be able to cast their vote anonymously.  The ballot will state:  “Do you wish to be represented for purposes of collective bargaining by the Office of Professional Employees International Union, AFL-CIO, Local 153?”  The choices on the ballot will be “Yes” or “No.” (added 11.4.22)

All Barnard College students who were currently serving as Resident Assistants. (updated 11.18.22)

The outcome of any election is decided by a majority of only the people who made the effort to vote, and Barnard wants all voices to be heard.  For example, if only 10 out of 60 eligible students had voted, those 10 votes would have decided the outcome for all 60 students, as well as future students who become Resident Assistants. (updated 11.18.22)

The RA program was created primarily to help shape residential life through peer-to-peer mentoring and community-building that benefits both RAs and their residents.

In recognition of the RAs’ leadership and contributions to the College, Barnard provides RAs with free housing and a free meal plan and also reduces the loan for students receiving financial aid, while other institutions may provide direct compensation that can be more or less than the value of housing and a meal plan.

For RAs receiving financial aid, the recommended loan and student contribution are also removed from their financial aid package and replaced with an institutional grant. (added 10.21.22)

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) (20 U.S.C. § 1232g; 34 CFR Part 99) is a Federal law that protects the privacy of student education records. Generally, schools must have written permission from a student in order to release any information from a student's education record. (added 11.4.22)

The National Labor Relations Board requires the College to provide a voter list with the full names, work locations, shifts, job classifications, and contact information (including home addresses, available personal email addresses, and available personal home and cellular telephone numbers) of all students who are determined eligible to vote in the secret ballot election. This information is protected as education records under FERPA and the College’s FERPA policy. (added 11.4.22)

FERPA and the College’s FERPA policy distinguish between “directory” and “non-directory” information. Directory information under the College’s policy includes student's name; home or college address and telephone number; and, email address. The College may release directory information without a student’s consent, unless the student has notified the Registrar to place a hold on a release of this information. For all other FERPA-protected information, or if a student has notified the Registrar to place a hold on the release of directory information, there are certain exceptions outlined in the law. One of those exceptions is disclosure of FERPA-protected information in accordance with a lawfully issued subpoena. (added 11.4.22)

On November 3, 2022, the NLRB issued a subpoena to the College for the FERPA-protected information required by this agency for the voter list.  The NLRB has given the College a deadline of November 15, 2022 to provide this information. The College is providing notice to all impacted students of the subpoena before turning over the information and providing the students with the opportunity to “quash” the subpoena or challenge it.  If a student does not take such action nor respond to the College’s notice, the College will release the information to the NLRB in accordance with the subpoena on November 15, 2022. (added 11.4.22)

We will regularly update this website with factual information. In addition, the NLRB’s website, https://www.nlrb.gov, contains an abundance of information about the unionization process.