SUNY Oneonta RAs
Threaten Strike Over
Fair Pay Amid COVID
ONEONTA – Asking for minimum wage, an increase in board compensation and payment when forced to isolate, Resident Assistants at SUNY Oneonta have posted a series of demands on the social media site Instagram.
“We call on SUNY Oneonta’s president , Dr. Barbara Jean Morris, who made $275,000 in 2019, to guarantee fair payment for RAs that work during the COVID-19 pandemic,” the group wrote in a post that went up this morning.
The group is asking to be paid $11.80 an hour while working at the front desk while CDC guidelines are in place, increasing board compensation for RAs serving beyond two semesters from $600 to $900, single rooms on request and that any RA who has to go into quarantine or isolation continue to be paid half of what they would be paid.
“RAs must physically interact with residents to do their jobs,” they wrote. “We’re instructed to go door-to-door. Even with masks, we and our community are put at risk. The least the college could do is ensure that RAs who test positive on the job are properly compensated for their work.”
The group has given Morris five days to meet their demands or they will reduce their role to “emergency only”
Shame on these students/RAs. They should quit their jobs, let a group of students eager to fulfill this role replace them, and then tell their mommies and daddies to shell out $10,000 to Oneonta for their room and board… because they held the University hostage like a terrorist, and the University didn’t give in. Should doctors raise their rates to patients for enduring this new world order? No. Should mailmen and other civil servants demand more and threaten strike, due to Covid-19? No. There are likely hundreds of other qualified students who will and can replace the 40 who signed this time-bomb of a threatening petition… these 40 RAs should learn the hard-way, that threatening others is not the way to live out life… and I hope the University uses this as a teaching lesson for these 40.
While I agree that it feels like it a threat, let’s take a look at how the teachers are dealing with going back to work because of COVID. Their demands are ridiculous!
So college students who get up at all hours of the night, deal with students who get drunk, be counselors (with no degrees), work the desk (along with many hours to do the programs and boards) have their own classes, school work and school projects. Is it really that much to ask for?
All I’m saying is walk in someone else’s shoes. They really don’t get paid that much!