Nearly a year after voting to unionize, a unit of 44 student workers represented by OPEIU Local 11 is still without a contract at Reed College. The workers are known as housing advisors: They live in the dorms, plan social events, and connect dorm residents with resources on campus.
Above all, the housing advisors want higher compensation. They are currently paid $17,260 per year, which after taxes is less than the cost of their room and board in the dorms where they work.
Eli Rall, a junior and member of the bargaining committee, told supporters at an Oct. 4 union rally that Reed is not as progressive as it claims.
“I have been amazed by all the ways that this college has found to undermine and ignore the fights that students are making for progress at Reed,” Rall said.
The college and the union have come to agreement on everything but the duration of the contract, advance notice of schedule changes, and compensation. OPEIU Local 11 President Karyn Morrison said the union proposed additional stipends of roughly $2,876 for each housing advisor, which would cost the college $127,000 per year for the 44 workers.
Reed used to provide housing advisors with free room and board, but in 2016 it switched to paying a stipend equal to its charge for room and board. The problem is that student workers have to pay income taxes out of their stipend, so it doesn’t completely cover the costs.
Reed housing advisors first voted to unionize once before, in early 2018. But the college appealed to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), seeking to overturn a 2016 NLRB decision that recognized that student workers have a right to collective bargaining. The NLRB has gone back and forth on the issue: Boards appointed by Democratic presidents Clinton and Obama ruled that student workers do have union rights, while boards appointed by Republicans Bush and Trump looked to reverse that and declare that student workers were primarily students, and not employees who have rights under the National Labor Relations Act. That’s why — concerned that NLRB members appointed by President Donald Trump would use their case to overturn the 2016 ruling — Reed’s independent housing advisor union withdrew their petition for union recognition and dropped their effort to unionize.
The union push reignited last year, when Reed added rounds to housing advisors’ responsibilities. (Housing advisors are now required to complete nightly short patrols around each cluster of residence halls.)
Reed’s policy is that it meets students’ full financial need through grants, loans, and work study. In an Oct. 2 statement, Reed said the college wants housing advisors to “understand how their economic proposals will impact financial aid awards.” Asked what those impacts would be, Reed spokesperson Sheena McFarland did not offer additional information.
“I’m committed to making the dorms safe, creating community with my residents and being a friendly face that can offer a helping hand,” senior housing advisor Max Costigan told rally attendees. “However, this is still a job. It is still work.”
