Hello fellow ResLife workers,

Our next bargaining session is coming up! By showing up strong at bargaining, we can send a clear message to BU that we are ready to fight for a strong contract. 

BU ResLife Union Bargaining Session 

Wednesday, March 20th

2:45pm to 5:30pm (Zoom)

Register here!

Bargaining Schedule:

• 2:45-3:00pm: Preparation together in our ResLife Union Zoom
• 3:00-5:00pm: Bargaining with BU on their Zoom
• 5:00-5:30pm: Debrief discussion in our ResLife Union Zoom: Response and next action

BU keeps breaking our promises and our trust. They refuse to give us meeting times that actually work around our busy classes and other schedules. Fill out our “I can’t make it” form to tell BU that they need to give us better bargaining dates and times!

“I can’t make it” form!

March 1st Bargaining Summary: BU Breaks Their Promise

Before Spring Break, we met with BU for a two hour bargaining session. In our February bargaining session, they promised they would come to our March session with counter proposals on “economics” – which include matters like wages, meal plans, and health insurance. They broke their promise! Over 50 ResLife workers came to bargaining ready to hear what BU had to offer and at the end of the bargaining session, the BU head negotiator announced that they had no economic counter proposals for us – other than rejecting our proposal for training to be compensated. 

They did offer several other counter proposals. In our caucus, we discussed how we would not  accept any of them because they maintain the status quo and fail to address the serious gaps that our proposals thoughtfully seek to plug. Here is a brief recap, but you can read our proposals in full here and follow along with updates in our bargaining tracker.

• Grievances: Grievances are one way to enforce our contract once we win it: if BU violates the contract or acts unfairly, workers file a grievance to seek redress. BU’s grievance proposal extended how long they would take, allowing management up to three weeks to respond.They also proposed that ResLife workers cannot file a grievance on our own behalf, and that all grievances must be filed through union staff – thus limiting our ability to protect and stand up for ourselves. 
• Discipline: We have proposed that when workers are disciplined, BU must notify our union so that we can protect workers from getting disciplined or fired in secrecy, with no accountability from BU. This has been a problem this year when it has taken months for workers to find out about how widespread the GPA firings have been. BU proposed that only the worker experiencing discipline has a right to know what is happening, thus depriving them of access to support!
• Union Rights: We have proposed that we have the chance to teach all incoming ResLife workers about their union for an hour during orientation and that we have access to room reservations for union meetings. BU proposed that we should have no union orientation, depriving workers of a chance to learn what it means to be a union member!
• Training: We proposed to get paid for training, clear schedules in advance for training, and that we have the option to get trained in lifesaving care like CPR and Narcan if we want it. BU proposed that we have none of these things – that training continues to be uncompensated, that we don’t have the time to prepare for training sessions, and that we don't even have the option to learn the skills we might need in handling stressful, sometimes life-and-death situations.

BU’s proposals, and lack of wage proposals, were insulting and did not address our real needs as ResLife workers. During bargaining, many workers courageously spoke up to counter BU’s arguments, drawing from our own experiences in our jobs. We are ready to go back to the table to hold them to their promises – and show that we are ready to exert real pressure if they continue to come empty-handed to bargaining. 

Get involved in your union and let’s show up strong on March 20th! 

When we fight, we win!

In Solidarity,

Your Bargaining Team

(Adam, Jacob, James, Jasmine, Lillian, Nik, and Stacey)