Drexel RAs win union election 63-4!
THURSDAY, APRIL 11: Drexel Resident Assistants won their union election with 94% voting yes, successfully joining OPEIU Local 153.
“Words cannot describe how ecstatic I am over these results. Drexel RAs work so hard to make the Drexel experience what it is, and I'm so happy that we now have the chance to be properly appreciated and compensated for the impact we have on this school.”
-Grace Knauss, class of 2024, RA since Fall 2021
Drexel University’s Resident Assistants (RAs) are student workers who have been hired by the University to live in the dorms and enhance the student life experience by overseeing anywhere between 20-50 residents. Although this job is only classified as part-time, RAs have seen the position become overwhelming. Low compensation, unpaid training, lack of input into placement, and intense work responsibilities drove the effort to unionize.
“I’m immensely proud of my fellow RAs for showing up today to vote in favor of forming a union. It’s empowering to know that we have such strong support leading into negotiations, and I am excited for RAs to have an active say in our roles and see what we can achieve by voicing our collective interest.” -Haleigh Purich, JD class of 2024, RA since Fall 2023
“I am very excited to see where today’s win will take Drexel RAs, from now into the far future. I am proud of the collective work of all of us RAs to achieve this win. I hope this can inspire RAs at more institutions to recognize that they are capable of speaking up for their rights as student employees. This is just the beginning for us, and I look forward to the start of the negotiation process!” - Helene Chibane, class of 2024, RA since Fall 2021
Following the vote, Drexel RAs will work to develop proposals to best represent the interests of all RAs to bring to the negotiations table.
”Drexel RAs made a strong statement today that they deserve a real voice in their workplace. It's time for Drexel to respect their student workers through showing up at the bargaining table,” says Scott Williams, organizer with OPEIU 153. “They join a growing movement of student workers that are unionizing by the thousands. They are the future of the labor movement!”
Drexel RAs are the tenth group of RAs to unionize with OPEIU Local 153 since 2022, including RAs at Wesleyan, Barnard, Fordham, UPenn, Tufts, Rensselaer Polytechnic, Swarthmore, Emerson, and Bucknell. These are the first student workers to unionize at Drexel.
You can follow updates from the Drexel RA union on Instagram.