On Nov. 17, two new student worker unions, United Smith Student Workers and Smith College Residence Life Collective, held an inaugural rally on Chapin Lawn to garner support for their organizations, which were announced this month.
United Smith Student Workers aims to advocate for increased training and better wages and treatment from management and Smith administration on behalf of student dining workers.
The Smith College Residence Life Collective is unionizing on behalf of residence life student staff for better pay that does not adversely affect student workers’ financial aid and better support for Residence Life Student Staff and students in their houses.
Both organizations reached a petition majority this week, meaning that at least 30% of their workers signed a petition to unionize.
At the rally, student dining service workers and House Community Advisors (HCAs) explained to a crowd of supporters why unionizing was necessary, citing poor wages and a lack of support from college administration.
The speakers at the rally on behalf of student dining workers described inadequate, “on the fly” training. “There is a real lack of safety training in a lot of the student dining jobs, especially if you’re working with food prep,” said Grace Ellis, ’25, a Compass Cafe worker and United Smith Student Workers organizer. “We’re not really food safety trained in any sort of way.”
Ellis also said that she has personally faced issues with management. “I feel, especially since I am a student manager, there have been a lot of responsibilities that I’ve had to take on this semester, and some feel a bit unreasonable,” she said. “I’m having to come in at all hours of the day and I’m expected to be available at all points of the day.”
Smith Student Reslife staff also described issues and a lack of support from higher management. Spencer Backus ’25, HCA and Smith College Residence Life Collective organizer, said that “We feel that our jobs are not properly compensated for the expectations that are put upon us. We also see that there are not enough mental health support systems for our residents and us, which directly impacts our work.”
“I have both had and seen many situations where I, as an HCA, have needed more support to then support a resident,” Backus said. “There are also many things that residents do not hear about, because we have a certain level of discretion expected of us. These issues in particular are part of why we as HCAs need more support and resources.”
Another concern that was highlighted at the rally was that the Smith administration views student jobs as a means for students to make extra money, rather than how students pay their tuition. “There’s been messaging from the college that this job is sort of meant to be for pocket change,” Raia Gutman ’26 said. “We need to get that mindset out of student work-study jobs. If this job is part of your financial aid package then this is how [you’re] paying for tuition,” they said.
Other unions from the Five Colleges were also at attendance at the rally, including students from the University of Massachusetts Graduate Employee Organization. One of their members, Ryan, who declined to provide his last name, said, “I wanted to show solidarity with the union efforts in the area, especially those at institutions of higher education.”
“We see a lot of graduate unions and not as many undergraduate unions, so it’s great to see undergrads start to organize because they’re just as exploited as every other worker,” Aaron, another member of the University of Massachusetts Graduate Employee Organization who also declined to provide his last name, said.
“It’s great to see everyone’s support,” Gutman said. “Collective power is really important, and it’s really important for workers to have a voice.”
