1 - Does the labor law encourage or discourage unionization?

Yes they do. And the following is in support of that claim: “Often described as the ‘heart’ of the act, section 7 of the statute reflects the law's basic purposes. It provides that ‘employees shall have the right to self-organization, to form, join, or assist labor organizations, to bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing, and to engage in other concerted activities for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid and protection’ “ (Kohler, 2004). In addition, the labor laws tend to favor employee and union relationships.

Labor laws do provide protection for union employees against wage inequality by defining standard …show more content…

Now, the Resident assistants, do sign an agreement with the University detailing their job description and what is expected of them. This is certainly a valuable service that is being provided to the University, but at the same it does not warrant an organization movement in my opinion. Especially due to the natural turnover rate of the students (students graduating, etc.), a Resident Assistant is certainly not a long-term position and thus does not really justify signing a union / employee contract for any significant length of time.

In summary, the Resident Assistants do have generally good talking points for organization. However, their job description does not warrant the added expense that the University will take on when that group is organized. Should the Residents Assistants job descriptions increase, then yes, organization would be a good idea at the University. But key to remember here is that the Resident Assistants are full-time students with less than part-time jobs that they want to unionize.

5 - Do the RAs opposed to unionization have legitimate concerns? How could unionization change the culture of Residence Life?

Those concerns are quite legitimate, and in my opinion, more selfless and grounded than the rest of the Resident Assistants. As mentioned above, these are