By Denise Calderon, April 15, 2025
Resident assistants across the California State University system filed to be part of the CSU Employees Union in hopes of gaining more benefits, such as job security and sufficient funds for food and other necessities.
Many RAs across CSU campuses said they feel as though free housing and food is not enough compensation for the time and work they put in to helping students navigate obstacles in their everyday lives, such as food insecurity or medical help. RAs are aiming to prove their roles are similar to those of student assistants and that they should be provided with the same benefits and protection.
“Since we are appointed workers, we don’t really have job stability in the way other people do,” said Yasmean Zaidi-Dozandeh, an RA at CSU Dominguez Hills. “We don’t have an HR behind us. We don’t have checks and balances, and so the idea of having a full community behind us in order to fight for our interests is extremely helpful in making sure that our voices are heard in the actual auxiliaries that we work in.”
Zaidi-Dozandeh explained not having any protection or benefits can be difficult because these are full-time positions where RAs are not able to work more than 15 hours outside of campus. She said many students have multiple jobs to pay for expenses, but they’re still required to work a minimum of 20 hours per week on campus, and those hours can be up to 24 in a row when working on call.
Certain campuses, like CSU Dominguez Hills, use a community-learning model, which essentially is a set of basic values RAs should be providing to students in their job roles, such as in Zaidi-Dozandeh’s case. This means that, oftentimes, RAs are expected to do work that is not exactly in the scope of what a RA would usually help with. At CPP RA’s follow the University Housing Mission statement which states that RAs are responsible for creating a safe learning-centered environment that appreciates all cultures, backgrounds, and beliefs according to the CPP housing website.
“A lot of the time, we are asked to pick up the slack for other campus organizations that maybe are going through job cuts, ” Zaidi-Dozandeh said. “This last year, we had an issue with our janitors because they were also going through a strike and a similar process of vying for more interest and bargaining rights. And so unfortunately, due to the way our campus was handling it, our janitorial staff left, so we were asked to pick up for them, and we were told that during our shifts, we should be cleaning up the campus as well.”
Zaidi-Dozandeh said at times, RAs are expected to do tasks beyond their capabilities and that they don’t receivetraining, which can be hard on the students. For this reason, RAswant to see more financial compensation for the work they do, such as a stipend or an actual wage students could live on, which they hope the union will help them achieve.
Cal Poly Pomona RA Keara Fellers said the university has been giving RAs opportunities to fulfill separate roles with compensation.
“This year, a separate job opportunity was introduced for RAs to work at the front desk as assistants answering residents’ questions,”Fellers said. “I really appreciate this because it provides additional hourly pay. As a financially struggling college student, sometimes the compensation from being an RA isn’t enough to cover everything, and having extra income for things like day-to-day expenses really helps. Keeping this job option available could be a good way to support RAs and provide additional financial stability.”
Offering these additional opportunities could help a lot of students, but many are still worried about contract renewals since many rely on being a RA to attend their university.
“In the summer, I do not know what I am going to do,”Zaidi-Dozandeh said. “I have applied for the next year to be a resident assistant. Unfortunately for me, being an out-of-state student, if I’m not chosen to work during the summer, I don’t know what I am going to do. In other years, I have left my stuff in my car and hoped that it wouldn’t get broken into.”
This uncertainty is what RAs fear for the coming years and why they want to feel protected by the union and receive the stability many do not feel that they have as of now.
The CSUEU is in total support of RAs getting unionized and have stated they will back them throughout this process.
“CSUEU members understand that we are all stronger when we come together in union,”aunion spokesperson said. “We are excited to see young workers exercising their right to organize and have a voice at the table to improve their working conditions, which improves student services.”
Union members believe RAs deserve to have a voice and get the opportunity to negotiate their working conditions just like any other workers. Such as student assistants who have similar jobs roles and are part of the union.
Although RAs have filed for unionization March 7, many campus workers at CPP have not been aware of this movement, including residential advisers and area coordinators for residential communities on campus.
Residence life director La’ Keisha Beard stated in an email that she was not aware of the RAs filing for unionization when requesting to speak with her.
Now that RAs have filed the unit modification petition, the next step is for them to wait for a hearing with the state labor board to discuss their experiences as RAs, according to Zaidi-Dozandeh.
At this hearing, they will present their case and explain how their job roles are similar to those of student assistants. The date of the hearing is still pending, and the following steps are unclear as of now.
Feature image courtesy of Denise Calderon