With an inbox peppered with emails from professors and syllabi waiting to be read, Boston University senior Scarlett Downing was forced to acknowledge Sunday morning that classes would start in just a few days.
As thousands of students move into BU residences this weekend, Downing, a resident assistant, has had little time to process the upcoming school year. She was among about 50 Residence Life union members on the picket line Saturday striking against what they consider inadequate working conditions, so she hasn’t been working move-in shifts.
“I was getting really emotional that I couldn’t be there supporting my residents, and helping them move in, and getting to know them and their families while they’re on campus. But we believe in [the strike] strongly enough that it’s worth it,” Downing said.
In March 2023, BU’s Residential Life workers voted to unionize, forming an organization of nearly 300 resident assistants, graduate resident assistants, and graduate hall assistants. Since December, the union, which is a part of Service Employees International Union Local 509, has been bargaining with the university for a contract that it says would improve wages, workload, safety, and discipline measures.
But after 15 negotiation sessions, they have yet to agree on a contract. Last week, the union voted to authorize a strike — its second — which graduate resident assistant Liv Tambascio said is open-ended.
“We’re at the point where people are getting a little frustrated by how long things are taking, and we wanted to put some pressure on BU,” said Tambascio.
According to an FAQ page on the university’s website about the contract negotiations, it is common for the process for a first collective bargaining agreement to take more than 400 days.
“However, the University believes that it continues to make valuable offers to the union that will, hopefully, expedite the typically lengthy process,” the website reads.
The university has already responded to some proposals, offering improvements to working conditions, including access to air conditioning during the summer, a new grievance and third-party arbitration provision for employees to resolve workplace issues, and free Narcan and CPR training.
In Downing’s experience, being a resident assistant is like being a first responder to many issues on campus. They are asked to do everything from help students when they get locked out of their dorms to addressing more serious issues of residents’ well-being, such as suicidal ideation and sexual assault allegations.
“It really takes a toll when you’re not getting compensation that you think you deserve,” Downing said.
One of Tambascio’s foremost concerns is the accessibility of food for these workers. While resident assistants living in dorm-style housing receive a meal plan, those in other kinds of housing are left to buy their own food, some receiving a semester stipend that she said usually ranges between $9 and $50 a week.
“I would rather spend my one-on-one meetings with my RAs talking about how we can improve their communities, set up more events . . . than try to figure out where they’re getting their next meal with them,” said Tambascio, who has also has a supervising role.
Workers have successfully won meal plans for all, but this policy will only take effect when the contract is settled.
BU will also offer RAs a $1,000 stipend per semester — $500 more for graduate resident assistants with supervisory responsibilities. Workers say this stipend is significantly lower than that of other RAs at peer institutions like Tufts University and Emerson University.
Union members are also advocating for a one-semester grace period for RAs on academic probation. As RAs, Tambascio said, students’ grade point averages are tied to their employment. If an RA’s GPA dips and stays below 2.7, they are put on academic probation and can be removed from their position, effectively losing their housing.
“You should not have to worry about becoming homeless in a city if you have a bad semester academically,” Tambascio said.
The timing of the strike has forced a tradeoff for many resident assistants eager to help new students move in.
“This strike comes at a time of significant importance for you as residents of campus housing, and our focus remains on ensuring that you receive a high-level of service and care as you settle into your community for the fall semester,” BU Dean of Students Jason Campbell-Foster wrote in a letter to residential students.
Tambascio sees the strike as essential to contributing to the well-being of not just RAs but their residents, likening fighting for better conditions to putting an oxygen mask on oneself before putting one on another person.
“It’s hard to support residents when we don’t feel supported ourselves,” Tambascio said.
The union’s next bargaining date is Thursday.
Helena Getahun-Hawkins can be reached at helena.getahunhawkins@globe.com. Nick Stoico can be reached at nick.stoico@globe.com.