Community Advisors Mark First Student Union at the College

Community advisors (CAs) unanimously voted to unionize in a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) election on Wednesday, marking the first official student union at the college. The 39-0 vote came after the administration declined CAs’ request to voluntarily recognize their union on Dec. 5, recommending they take the NLRB route instead.

In an interview with The Student, an organizer — who elected to remain anonymous because of a stipulation in their contract stating that “CAs should not speak on behalf of the department to any media outlet” — said the election win was “so exciting” and thanked all those who supported the process, including CAs from previous years who were not present at the vote. 

Unionization efforts have been in the works for years but reached a tipping point this fall, when the college announced an updated description for the 2026-27 CA position. The new description transitions wages from an annual stipend to hourly pay, eliminates 13 CA positions, and potentially no longer requires some CAs to live in the communities they oversee, leading CAs to feel a “sort of devaluation” of the role. The changes were not communicated with the CA advisory board beforehand.

This November, 77% of CAs signed union cards in pursuit of voluntary recognition, which would have allowed the union to form as soon as the college agreed that a majority of workers supported it. After the administration declined their initial request, CAs had to wait until February to file their election request per NLRB timelines. They submitted union cards to the NLRB, served a petition to the college, and reached an agreement with NLRB that resulted in the assignment of an agent from the organization’s regional office, who would help direct the voting process.

NLRB elections require a formal federal process, one that student organizers note has become increasingly uncertain for student workers under recent national rulings and shifts in the Board’s leadership under the current Trump administration. However, the organizer said they did not face any political setbacks and were able to achieve their goal of holding the election before spring break.

The election ran from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., limited to two hours because of the NLRB agent’s availability. Upon arrival, voters were checked against a list of eligible CAs — those employed during the pay period ending Feb. 21. Around 65 percent of eligible voters turned out to cast anonymous ballots.

The college administration said it would respect the election’s outcome in a December letter to The Student, but still holds the right to challenge the results within five business days. If the election goes unchallenged, the CAs will receive a certificate of unionization — at which point they plan to send the college a request to bargain for a new contract. Negotiations will be open to any interested CAs, according to the organizer. 

The organizer said they are prepared for the “hard part” of bargaining, and are looking to CA contracts at neighboring schools like Mount Holyoke College and Smith College for guidance and advice. They hope the election inspires more groups to unionize and negotiate with the college, such as workers at Valentine Dining Hall who previously were unionized, but are not anymore. Employees at the Emily Dickinson Museum are also in contract negotiations with the college after successfully unionizing in July. 

“This has been a really long process,” the organizer said. “And there’s been a lot of people who supported it a lot that are no longer CAs or have graduated. I wish they could still be here to see it happen. But I’m glad that it’s happening now.”