UIC Campus Housing workers Announce Unionization!

On Thursday, January 30th, 2025, around 170 undergraduate Campus Housing employees at the University of Illinois - Chicago (UIC) organized together and petitioned the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board (IELRB) for a union representation election with the Office and Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU) Local 39. That afternoon, over 150 workers and supporters attended a press conference and rally on the UIC Quad to announce their new union! Around 87% of employees have signed union authorization cards.

The undergraduate housing employees unionizing at UIC include Resident Assistants (RAs), Desk Workers, Peer Mentors, and Senior Leadership Assistants. These workers, who have adopted the name “Housing Staff United” (HSU), began serious organizing efforts in 2023, after a survey conducted among UIC Campus Housing employees found that almost 90% of those surveyed are dependent on their staff position for housing stability, and over 50% rely on their position to continue their education. “Letting pro-staff know our frustrations, even when done through the suggested avenues, has led to an overwhelming, “it’s out of our hands' response,” and no change, people are fed up,” says Madison Peón, a current UIC RA. “This union is empowering employees who feel trapped by their reliance on a role that overworks, underpays and lacks necessary support for their success.”

While workers holding stipend positions are given a housing waiver and meal plan, they only earn approximately $75 every two weeks, approximately $1.87 per hour, assuming that they only work for 20 hours as listed in their contracts. Employee Elisa Homan shares that “there were weeks when I was responsible for managing upwards of 95 residents, often without any additional support from supervisors." Other RAs report that their workload often far exceeds their 20-hr pay period and a consistent increase in residents with no additional stang or compensation.

For hourly desk workers, compensation remains underwhelming. Although the position pays the city minimum wage of $16/hour, many desk workers are federal work-study students and work in the position to pay for educational expenses such as housing and meal plans, for which hourly workers are not provided even a discount. Tasked with providing a welcoming environment for students, campus security, and a variety of dorm upkeep tasks, desk workers often report feeling frustrated and underpaid in their position. “As desk workers, we are responsible for making students feel secure and safe in their residence halls. This year, desk staff were given a new ID verification system with bugs that still have not been addressed over six months later,” states desk worker Nathan Sheppard. “How are we supposed to make students feel safe when our systems do not work?”

Other than fair compensation, worker demands include improved training, additional time off, mental health support, and removal of the one-year cap on raises. The UIC Campus Housing workers hope to join over 20 other RA unions in a national upward trend of undergraduate organizing. If successful, however, HSU would become the only campus housing union in the Midwest. Perhaps more importantly, they would be the United States’ first public university housing (RA) union in decades, following only the University of Massachusetts Amherst RA Union, formed in 2002. Chicago’s rich history of labor organizing provides hope for HSU’s organizers, but very few expect the University of Illinois to be neutral, let alone supportive of their efforts. The University of Illinois System has forced many recent labor actions, such as the UIC United Faculty strike in 2023 and the SEIU Building and Food Service Workers and Illinois Nurses Association strikes in 2024.

After spending their college careers watching professionals on campus fight for fair contracts, HSU members are emboldened to take action and improve their working conditions – for themselves and for the students that they serve. “Our union started in a basement with less than 10 workers,” shares RA Ellison Radek. “I never would have thought that I would be able to say that we now have supermajority support, that we have successfully built student power, and that we were able to organize in a position that feeds on desperation. HSU is incredibly excited to begin working as a union and looks forward to the positive change that will soon come. We are committed to improving not only the working conditions of undergraduate Campus Housing workers, but also the residential experience for all students who call UIC home.”