Information on Resident Assistant and Community Assistant Unionization at Skidmore College

A labor union is an organization that represents employees by negotiating a labor contract with an employer on behalf of a designated group of employees. The employees pay dues to the union, and the union has a legal obligation to advocate for the employees’ collective interests. The designated group of employees is a “bargaining unit,” and the labor contract is known as a “collective bargaining agreement” (CBA). The CBA governs the terms and conditions of employment for bargaining unit members, such as wages and hours of work.

As an academic institution and an employer, Skidmore is neither pro- nor anti-union. We respect the legal right of these student leaders to explore the possibility of union representation. If a union is established, Skidmore College will bargain in good faith with the union.

Skidmore neither favors nor opposes the formation of a union for any group of eligible employees. In accordance with our mission, we strive in this and in all other matters to educate student leaders and help make informed choices.

The NLRA is a federal law enacted in 1935 that protects the rights of all private-sector employees to choose by majority vote whether or not to join a labor union. The NLRA is not designed to promote or discourage unionization; rather it simply protects the right to choose.

The NLRB is a federal agency that administers and enforces the NLRA.  The NLRB conducts elections for employees to decide whether or not to unionize, and it regulates the collective bargaining process and other aspects of labor relations in unionized workplaces.

If the NLRB determines that a group of students are “employees” under the NLRA, then the students can be represented by a union.

The NLRB’s formal process begins when a union files a petition for an election among employees in a defined bargaining unit. In its petition, the union proposes who it believes should be included and who should be excluded from the bargaining unit. 

Next, the employer informs the NLRB whether it agrees or disagrees with any aspect of the union’s proposed unit. The NLRB then convenes a hearing after which it issues a determination as to the scope of the bargaining unit and all election details. The governing principle in bargaining unit formation is whether all employees in the group share a sufficient “community of interests” with one another.

After the appropriate bargaining unit has been established, the NLRB conducts an election among the employees in that unit. This is a secret ballot election in which each eligible member of the bargaining unit can vote yes or no to form a union. The election is decided by a majority of votes cast – not a majority of the entire potential bargaining unit – so turnout is important. All members of the bargaining unit are bound by the outcome so everyone should cast a ballot.

The petition was filed by a division of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) known as Local 200 United. The person who signed the petition on behalf of the SEIU is a union representative named Chris Machanoff. The union’s proposed bargaining unit seeks to include “all undergraduate resident assistants” and exclude “all managerial employees.”

The SEIU indicated that it seeks to represent Skidmore’s undergraduate resident assistants. There are 49 Resident Assistant positions, seven of which are vacant, and four Community Assistants.

The College is required to provide the NLRB and the union with certain information including a list of the names of all RAs/CAs in the proposed bargaining unit, their shift and work location.  However, the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) protects the confidentiality of student information and bars the College from releasing certain personal information. The College worked with the NLRB to ensure compliance with both the NLRA and FERPA, and the College released the information in response to a subpoena from the NLRB.  This information was provided to the union and the NLRB on April 18, 2023.

The College recently updated the compensation model for the 2023-2024 academic year. Prior to this change, RA/CA housing costs for a single room in a residence hall or apartment were waived – a value of between $10,434 and $12,640 per student. This waiver will continue. Conversations began in the Fall 2022 about improving RA/CA compensation, with a special focus on RAs and CAs who are already receiving financial aid that covers tuition, fees, meals, and housing. The discussions involved RAs and CAs, student leaders, the Student Government Association and the Offices of Students Affairs, Financial Aid, and Financial Services. These discussions culminated in a recommendation to change the RA/CA compensation model, a change the College approved on March 7, 2023. Beginning with the new academic year, students who receive grants that cover their full tuition, required fees, meal plan and housing may now also qualify for a stipend of up to $4,000 per academic year for service as RAs and CAs. Students who receive grants that cover less than their full tuition, fees, meal plan and housing may qualify for a partial stipend if the financial benefit to the RA/CA is less than $4,000.

The law does not impose a specified timeframe for the parties to negotiate a CBA. Collective bargaining is inherently a complex and time-consuming process. Studies have shown that most initial CBAs following unionization take more than a year to negotiate, and it is not uncommon for the process to take longer. It is important to note that compensation and other terms of employment cannot be changed until the parties have reached a final agreement.

The National Labor Relations Board has scheduled a vote on Tuesday May 9, 2023. The election, by secret ballot, will be held from Noon to 2 p.m. and 3 to 7 p.m. in the conference room of Wyckoff Center.

All students who were employed as RAs and CAs as of April 14, 2023, are eligible to vote.

No. You do not have to vote, but keep in mind that if a majority of the members of the proposed bargaining unit who show up for the election will decide the outcome and everyone in the unit will be bound by that decision. 

No. In a unionized workplace, all members of the bargaining unit are considered members of the collective that the union represents. After a union is elected, it negotiates a CBA that will govern the terms of employment for everyone in the collective. 

In a non-union workplace, employees typically interact directly with their employers on matters dealing with compensation, benefits and other terms and conditions of employment. The employer develops formal or informal personnel policies and practices that reflect the employer’s mission and values and a wage and benefits package that reflects the competitive labor market and the employer’s need to recruit and retain qualified personnel. In a non-union setting, employees can raise issues or concerns to any member of management at any time, and terms of employment are governed by policy and practice rather than an employment agreement. 

In a unionized workplace, a third-party labor organization, a union, serves as the exclusive spokesperson for all bargaining unit members as a collective. The terms of employment are established through the collective bargaining process resulting in a CBA. Employees are typically required to pay membership dues to the union in exchange for the union’s representation of the employees. The formal legal relationship between the union and the employer replaces the direct relationship that each employee has with their employer in a non-union setting. Direct dealing between any supervisor or manager and any individual employee is prohibited by law. 

Neither. The law requires only that the union and the employer bargain in good faith to reach mutually agreeable terms for a CBA. Union membership guarantees a process, not an outcome. 

A representative from the NLRB will be present to oversee the secret ballot vote. RAs and CAs who are eligible to vote must come to the voting location between noon and 2:00 pm or between 3:00 and 7:00pm. In addition to the NLRB representative, there will also be two observers at the voting location – one observer for the College and one observer from the proposed bargaining unit. When you arrive at the voting location, you will provide your name, which will be matched to a voter list. You will then proceed to a voting booth and complete a paper ballot that will then be placed in the ballot box.

You may not know yet how you plan to vote, or you may not wish to share your plans. You are under no obligation to tell anyone how you plan to vote. The vote on May 9 will be by secret ballot and everyone’s vote will be private.

No. If a union is chosen by current RAs and CAs as their legal representative, it will continue to serve unless its members undertake a process to decertify it.

The bargaining unit, as proposed by SEIU, includes only Resident Assistants and Community Assistants. To make clear which students were eligible to vote, the NLRB determined that students who were employed as RAs or CAs as of April 14, 2023, are eligible.

SEIU Local 2000 is the only union to have submitted a petition to represent those Skidmore students who serve as RAs and CAs.

No. The vote is determined by a majority of the RAs and CAs who vote. In other words, if 20 of the current 47 RAs and CAs vote, then only 11 need to vote “yes.” They will decide for all other RAs and CAs in the group. That is why it is important to make sure you vote.

It is important to understand that the Board generally sets the eligibility based on which employees are actively employed at the time of the election.  In most workplaces, the makeup of a proposed bargaining unit is relatively stable with employees remaining in their roles following the election.  In a college setting, student leaders such as RAs and CAs may elect not to return to these roles after the end of an academic year to take on other roles and responsibilities, pursue other interests, or graduate. This has led to a situation where (1) some students who will not be affected by the outcome of the union election will nevertheless be eligible to cast a ballot in that election, and (2) some students who will be affected by the outcome of the election will not be permitted to vote. 

The College encourages all eligible RAs and CAs to vote as the results will be binding to everyone in the bargaining unit, including students who do not vote, students who vote "no," and all future students who won't have an opportunity to vote.

If a union is elected, it negotiates a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) that will govern the terms of employment for all RAs and CAs. The CBA may contain a “union security” clause that mandates payment of union membership dues by every member of the bargaining unit. Questions about whether SEIU will seek to require everyone in the bargaining unit to pay union dues and the amount of those dues should be addressed with SEIU.

Under a typical union security clause, all bargaining unit members would be required to pay for union representation. Objectors to joining a union can decline to actually join the union as dues-paying members and can pay a reduced amount, known as core membership dues, which typically amount to about 90% of full dues.

No, if you are no longer employed in the bargaining unit, you will no longer be represented by the union and will not have to pay dues.

No. The NLRB has determined that only those RAs and CAs who were actively employed as of April 14, 2023 are eligible to vote. Therefore, RAs and CAs who have been hired for the Summer or Fall 2023 semesters who were not RAs or CAs as of April 14, 2023, are not eligible to vote.

No. A union authorization card simply expresses an interest in a union so that a petition can be filed with the NLRB for an election. For the upcoming election, you can vote however you like. The election will be a secret ballot.

No. If the union wins, it becomes the exclusive and ongoing representative of all RAs and CAs without an annual “re-election.”

No, while the adminstration and Student Affairs staff are always available and open to listen to issues of concern, the College and SEIU have agreed and the NLRB has approved to hold an election on Tuesday, May 9.

Students have influence and power, and their concerns are taken seriously. When RAs, CAs and other student leaders asked the College to address the increasing demands of their positions, the College responded and, through a collaborative process, important and meaningful changes have been made and more are coming. For our RAs and CAs, the choice now is whether to continue to deal directly with the College on matters of compensation and benefits, or engage a third-party union to handle those matters for them and future RAs and CAs.

There is no fixed timetable. If a union is elected and certified, the union would determine the makeup of its negotiating committee and then negotiations with the College would begin. The two parties typically meet on a regular basis and exchange information, discussing non-monetary issues first.  Initial contracts can take a year or longer to negotiate. Until the first collective bargaining agreement is approved, no changes in compensation or other terms of employment are permitted.