Resident Assistant Union Timeline

  • Effective Date of the Collective Bargaining Agreement: November 4, 2024
  • Resident Assistant Ratification of the Collective Bargaining Agreement: October 31, 2024
  • October 3, 2024 - Eighth Bargaining Session held.
  • September 6, 2024 - Seventh Bargaining session held.
  • August 7, 2024 - Sixth Bargaining session held.
  • June 5, 2024 - The National Labor Relations Board dismissed the OPEIU's May 10, 2024 ULP against the College due to a lack of cooperation by the OPEIU representative.
  • June 4 and 6, 2024 - The parties canceled each of the previously scheduled upcoming two Bargaining sessions. The next Bargaining sessions haven not yet been scheduled. However, sessions are expected to resume later this summer.
  • May 13, 2024 - Fifth Bargaining session held.
  • May 10, 2024 - OPEIU filed an Unfair Labor Practice Charge (ULP) alleging the College had engaged in bad faith, surface and piecemeal bargaining. The College had planned to respond accordingly.  However, on June 5, 2024,  the National Labor Relations Board dismissed the ULP.
  • April 22, 2024 - Fourth Bargaining session held.
  • April 8, 2024 - Third Bargaining session held.
  • March 4, 2024 - Second Bargaining session held.
  • February 12, 2024 - First bargaining session held.
  • December 22, 2023 - NLRB certified the OPEIU, Local 153 as the exclusive collective bargaining representative of the Swarthmore College Resident Assistants’ bargaining unit.
  • December 14, 2023 - Resident Assistants voted to be represented as a bargaining unit by OPEIU, Local 153.
  • December 13, 2023 - OPEIU filed an Unfair Labor Practice Charge (ULP) alleging the College had engaged in retaliation by issuing performance warnings to three employees. The Union later conditionally withdrew the ULP, which was approved by the NLRB on March 28, 2024.
  • November 10, 2023 - The Vice President of Student Affairs wrote to Resident Assistants acknowledging that the College had received notice of their interest to form a union; informing them that the College would not stand in the way of a democratic election; and committing to abide by the outcome of the election results.
  • November 7, 2023 - The College was notified by the National Labor Relations Board that the OPEIU, Local 153 had filed a petition to represent the Swarthmore College Resident Assistants for collective bargaining. 
  • November 6, 2023 - The Office and Professional Employees International Union, Local 153 (OPEIU) notified the College that Swarthmore College Resident Assistants had signed a union recognition petition to be represented for collective bargaining by the OPEIU, Local 153. OPEIU also requested that the College voluntarily recognize the union. OPEIU also indicated that it was filing a petition with the National Labor Relations Board to represent the Swarthmore College Resident Assistants for collective bargaining.